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InFamous VS Prototype! A decade-long debate between these superpowered open-world protagonists will finally be settled once and for all!

Interlude

Boomstick: I love me some open world games, but when I want to take a break from following the damn train, I especially dig the ones where you're a literal superhuman.

Wiz: In 2009, these two super-powered sandbox games came out just two weeks apart, and for an entire decade, this debate between InFamous and Prototype's leading men has gone unanswered... until today.

Boomstick: Cole MacGrath, InFamous' ELECTRIFYING Prime Conduit.

Wiz: And Alex Mercer, the Prototype. For this match-up, we will sticking exclusively to both characters at their peak prior to their final battles.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a... Death Battle.

Cole MacGrath

Wiz: Cole MacGrath was someone most would never notice: a simple bike courier making his living by delivering packages.

Boomstick: Aside from his best friends Zeke and Trish, he really didn't care for anything else. He even dropped out of college just to piss off his folks. *sniffles* Livin' the dream, Cole. Then one day in New Yor... *coughs* I mean Empire City, Cole got a call to drop off a box, but when he got there, he was offered extra cash to open the package and hold what was inside. Nothing out of the ordinary, just some shiny glowy Poké Ball the size of a basketball, then BOOM!, a couple city blocks were toast.

Wiz: If waking up in a crater wasn't bad enough for Cole, Empire City completely fell apart: a plague began to spread, forcing the government to place the whole city under quarantine.

Boomstick: Oh, and crime was so out of control that the city's entire police force was almost completely absent.

Wiz: But Cole didn't just survive the explosion: he was changed by it. He and his friends soon discovered he could interact with electricity without harm, absorbing and even utilizing it himself.

Boomstick: So he practiced, becoming adept enough to stop armed gang members from stealing air-dropped food... but a guy on the TV put up a video showing Cole with the quote unquote "bomb", turning the city's people against him. And then someone from the FBI told Cole that it wasn't a bomb at all, but a device called the Ray Sphere that gave people superpowers. Oh, and it was made by a super-secret society called the First Sons. Sufficed to say, Cole had a lot on his plate to deal with that day alone, but luckily, he was more than up to the task of fighting to find the answers.

Wiz: Cole was practically a master at parkour and with his newfound abilities, he could navigate both rooftops and the sewers with utter ease.

Boomstick: But now let's get to Cole's bread-and-butter: electricity. He has his basic bolts, ranging from single and multi-shots to rapid fire, blasts to push foes and objects back or even cause them to levitate, grenades that stick, multiply, chase after, and electrocute before detonation, and his hard-hitting rockets. My favorite's the Redirect Rocket, which may spiral, making it hard to hit things with, but if Cole fires bolts at something, it comes flying straight at them with all fury like... well... a rocket.

Wiz: He can also utilize an ability called Kinetic Pulse to lift objects above him, then launch them forward with kinetic energy for an explosion upon impact.

Boomstick: Anything from trash cans to cars, he can lift them. And he can even stand on top of the object he's lifting to lift himself up too.

Wiz: But Cole's powers aren't exclusively for long-range offense. He can ride power lines and rails to get around a city quickly, or use the tops of cars to be given a massive electrical jump upward.

Boomstick: And if that and climbing aren't getting him to the tops of buildings fast enough, he has the Lightning Tether. Think of it like Batman's grappling hook: he fires and it pulls him straight towards his destination. Oh, and hey, DC Comics made an InFamous comic. How about that?

Wiz: Another technique, the Lightning Hook, essentially does the opposite: pulling objects and even people to him, including those he can lift with Kinetic Pulse such as cars.

Boomstick: And he can project static electricity from his hands while in midair to slow down his descent and glide to a lower rooftop. But should his enemies be below him, Cole can charge up the Thunder Drop to unleash a shockwave upon impact with the ground.

Wiz: While taking aim, Cole can focus and slow his perception of time with Precision. And his Polarity Wall is a unique and defensive ability that can both stop bullets.

Boomstick: Not only that, but blocked shots turn into energy for Cole to use. And while this ability requires a transformer box... the electricity kind, not the Hasbro toy... the Tesla Missile can be remote-controlled by Cole into whatever he needs it to hit, be it another transformer or, y'know, enemies.

Wiz: All of Cole's abilities run on the electricity reserves in his system and overuse can drain him too quickly, leaving him unable to use any of them. Thankfully, Cole can always track sources of electricity and even enemies with Radar Pulse.

Boomstick: So... like sonar?

Wiz: Like sonar. He can also use something akin to a psychic vision on a deceased individual, seeing their last moments, and leaving a trail for him to track their killers.

Boomstick: Man, Cole would make a killing in the detective business! Well, when the fighting's all said and done, he heals injured civilians with Pulse Heal, straps foes to the ground with Arc Restraint, and on those days where he's thirsty for electricity and can't wait, he can just say "Screw it!" and absorb the electricity of a defeated enemy with Bio Leech.

Wiz: And in case Cole needs to get up close and personal, his seemingly normal punches and kicks are greatly enhanced with electricity.

Boomstick: If that doesn't cut it, he can charge up even more power for the Gigawatt Blades. But his sole melee weapon, and his favorite, is the Amp.

(*Wizard and Boomstick are shown with the latter holding the Amp and a log in front of him*)

Boomstick: Built by his best buddy Zeke, Cole can channel his electricity into this doohickey for even more powerful strikes. *points at self* But not this guy! Just watch!

(*He swings the Amp into the log, but instead of splitting it, he simply puts a small crack in it before dropping the amp due to his hands shaking from the impact.*)

Boomstick: Damn it! Guess I do need electricity powers after all!

Wiz: Indeed. Now then...

Boomstick: But wait...!

(*He takes out the Ray Sphere to Wizard's surprise.*)

Boomstick: Imma get me some super powers with this.

Wiz: ...except the Ray Sphere doesn't exactly give powers to just anyone. In the InFamous world, Conduits, or humans with special powers, often take time for their abilities to awaken.

Boomstick: Ah, like those Mutant X-Men people from Marvel Comics! So the Ray Sphere just gives them their powers early.

Wiz: Yes... at the cost of all non-Conduits nearby the user.

Boomstick: I can live with that. Now let's get us some powers!

(*He gets ready to squeeze the Ray Sphere.*)

Wiz: Just one problem with that: those without the Conduit gene can't hope to utilize the Ray Sphere's power themselves, just like the time Zeke attempted to gain powers for himself.

Boomstick: ...so you're saying I don't have the Conduit gene?

Wiz: I checked and you don't... and neither do I.

(*Boomstick was saddened by this, but tried to play it off by putting a hand over Wizard's shoulder.*)

Boomstick: It's alright, Wiz. We'll get by.

(*end Wizard and Boomstick cut-away*)

Wiz: Cole's search for answers and eventual determination to save Empire City led him to a fateful battle with the First Son's leader Kessler, who happened to have electrical powers of his own.

Boomstick: Strap yourselves in, folks. See, Kessler doesn't just happen to have Cole's same power set: Kessler WAS Cole from an alternate future who chose not to use his powers to help others, resulting in a massive beast called "the Beast" annihilating everything. So Future Cole here traveled back in time and all the awful shit he did was to ensure that the Cole we all know was ready for it.

Wiz: ...while also unintentionally causing an incurable plague with the Ray Sphere called "the Plague".

Boomstick: And murdering his own future wife Trish. Good going there, Kessler.

Wiz: His quest to be ready for the Beast led him to New Marais, where he came across the agent Kuo, who also had the Conduit gene.

Boomstick: Long story short, Kuo unlocked her ability to conjure ice, and then after finding a device that allowed the transfer of abilities between Conduits, she and Cole used it to try swapping powers with each other. Kuo didn't really get anything out of it, but Cole gained a cool new power set to call upon.

Wiz: Cole can create shards of ice to launch with his blasts, grenades and rockets that trap humans in ice on contact, a pillar for launching himself upward...

Boomstick ...and a shield of frost... the Frost Shield. But when outnumbered or facing a powerful foe, Cole can call upon these show-stoppers: the Ionic Vortex is basically an electrical tornado of death that sucks just about anything into it, while Ionic Freeze creates a trail of ice spikes that freeze enemies... and not civilians. That's handy.

Wiz: But by far his most powerful are his Lightning and Ionic Storm. Both involve Cole summoning a bolt of lightning from the sky with a force all but guaranteed to down nearly any enemy.

Boomstick: And the former of which Cole can steer himself. And if he needs even more power, he has Karmic Overload. While it costs karma to use, it gives Cole unlimited juice for a short time.

Wiz: On his journey to becoming a full-fledged superhero, Cole's performed some exceptional feats. He's taken on gangs like the Reapers and Dust Men, First Sons soldiers, various swamp monsters, and a mercenary army of Ice Conduits.

Boomstick: Oh, and he liberated two whole cities from their captors. No biggie, really.

Wiz: He's fought several high-tier Conduits, like the mentalist Alden Tate, who could throw a bus onto the top of a tall building and craft a giant body out of junk to pilot, and Joseph Bertrand, who could mutate normal humans into swamp monsters and transform himself into a massive fifty story behemoth.

Boomstick: At his most powerful, Cole has managed to fire off a super-heated bolt that can punch a hole through the hull of an aircraft carrier, sank said carrier with Lightning Storm, and even damaged the Beast.

Wiz: The Beast once had its body destroyed by a nuclear missile. The missile's creator, Sebastian Wolfe, stated the weapon to have a payload of 51 kilotons. That's over two and a half times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Boomstick: And Cole's a tough cookie too. He's been thrown through a wall, had a steel beam fall on him, and was hit by eye beams from the Conduit David Warner that sent him flying. Wait a second... David Warner... *excited gasp*

Wiz: He's not one of the Warner Brothers!

Boomstick: Aww. Plus, Cole's gotten up after having a bomb go off in front of him, which isn't all that surprising since he was in the middle of an explosion that destroyed 6 city blocks!

Wiz: But Cole does have several weaknesses: submerging himself in large bodies of water will electrocute him, and one deep enough could actually kill him.

Boomstick: Cole has some trouble firing through fences, gates, and other metal obstructions, which some of his foes have used to their advantage.

Wiz: Also, Cole is not invincible. His durability is entirely dependent on a constantly supply of electricity. Should he take damage, Cole will need to recharge from nearby electrical sources to keep up his healing factor.

Boomstick: He can heal from bullet wounds, sure, but he ain't Wolverine. And should Cole be completely drained, enough well-placed shots can put this Conduit down the same as any other man.

Wiz: But even for a hero with just a career of only a few months, Cole would go on accomplish the impossible: stopping the Beast and curing the entire world of the Plague once and for all... by sacrificing his own life.

Boomstick: *sniffles* That Cole MacGrath. He may have lasted only half as long, but he truly did glow twice as bright.

Wiz: Alexander J. Mercer was a fairly withdrawn intellectual, trusting no one and without friends.

Boomstick: Probably because he had a bit of a crummy upbringing, being in foster care for years and having to be a parental figure to his younger sister Dana due to a lack of any good ones. But hey, Alex found his calling in science, so after earning his doctorate degree... for genetics, not poultry science like yours truly... he went to work at a research company called Gentek.

Wiz: Alex excelled in his new surroundings, his work on viruses and altering genes years ahead of his co-workers.

Boomstick: Yeah, speaking of viruses, his usual work load included a supposed cure for diseases that was actually meant to rewrite the DNA of living creatures. Y'know, fairly shady shit, but Alex was pretty much okay with all of it... that is until his fellow scientists began getting "mysteriously" killed.

Wiz: Gentek was under investigation and, fearing potential leaks, attempted to cover it up. He sent Dana a laptop containing information about his work, then fled Gentek for his life. But his body would end up at Penn Station, which became Ground Zero for a massive biological event: the spread of the Blacklight Virus.

Boomstick: Alex Mercer was dead... but then he found himself in a morgue with a splash of amnesia and freaky superpowers to boot. Pretty convenient since Manhattan soon went under quarantine and became a total war zone. Not only were people starting to turn into monsters, but the government black ops group Blackwatch's solution to stopping the virus' spread was to basically murder whoever they pleased, whether they were infected or not.

Wiz: The virus completely changed Alex: his entire physical being, including his own clothes, had become biomass, the building blocks that make up all living creatures, which he can alter at will.

(*Wizard and Boomstick watch clips of Alex Mercer*)

Boomstick: Ah, but now he's stuck wearing that jacket and hoodie forever... which is what I would've said if he couldn't take on the appearance of others! So what, does he just look at them and then pull a Mystique or T-1000?

Wiz: No... actually, he...

(*Boomstick sees several clips of Mercer absorbing individuals*)

Boomstick: He's eating them! And then he's going to eat me!

(*A fly lands on Boomstick's head as the camera zooms in on his face.*)

Boomstick: OH MY GODDDDDD!!!

(*end Wizard and Boomstick cut-away*)

Wiz: And that's only the half of it: with every person he consumes, Alex takes on all their memories. Imagine: an entire lifetime suddenly brought into your consciousness.

Boomstick: Complete with tons of really awkward memories he doesn't want to talk about, I'm sure. He probably has a separate file for them.

Wiz: More importantly, Mercer obtains the memories of his target's training, giving him the skillsets of potentially hundreds of combatants. Everything from close-quarters and marksmanship to combat tactics and knowledge.

Boomstick: Give Alex an automatic weapon, grenade, or rocket launcher and he'll put that to good use. Same goes with whatever tanks or helicopters he decides to commandeer.

Wiz: But Alex didn't accomplish everything with just firearms and vehicles: he learned to weaponize himself, transforming his own arms into a variety of instruments of death.

Boomstick: He can turn his hands into four-fingered claws, which can slice through flesh and bone with ease. Not only can he cut up close with it, but he can even have them travel underground and impale from a distance.

Wiz: What Alex's Hammerfists lack in speed, they make up for with powerful strikes.

Boomstick: With them, he can slam down on his elbow hard enough to smash armored vehicles, and can even toss himself forward fist-first like a torpedo of pain.

Wiz: His barbed Whipfist easily grants Alex the most range of all his other transformations, complete with a spear-like point.

Boomstick: For those moments where he wants to do his Scorpion impression. Or he can pull himself towards larger foes or helicopters. And that's when he's not swinging it around him like a chain blade of death. And speaking of blades... THE Blade is perhaps his deadliest close range weapon for mano-a-mano, especially against larger enemies and vehicles.

Wiz: The virus also increased his strength and speed dramatically. He can lift cars with ease and run so fast that it takes military helicopters to keep up with him.

Boomstick: Not to mention his agility. He can leap stories and long distances in a single jump, and can climb the sides of buildings... or he can just give gravity the middle finger and just RUN UP THEM!!! Where have I seen that before?

(*Clips of similar actions from Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype are shown side-by-side*)

Boomstick: Oh yeah... the same people that made Prototype also made a Hulk game.

Wiz: Alex can glide, dash forward, and even recover from being thrown back while in midair.

Boomstick: And if you don't see him, you're definitely in trouble because Alex can sure as hell see you. His Infected and Thermal visions can see through smoke and even some obstacles.

Wiz: Mercer's quest for answers didn't end in the way he had hoped.

Boomstick: Turns out when Alex fled Gentek, he took a vial containing a virus he was working on with him as insurance to keep him alive, but when he was cornered by armed soldiers at Penn Station and, knowing he was dead meat, he threw it to the ground. So the mastermind behind the outbreak... was himself.

Wiz: And he's even speculated that the Alex Mercer we know is not actually Alex Mercer. That the virus took over the deceased Mercer's body and simply possesses his memories.

Boomstick: ...huh. Well I'm just gonna keep calling him Alex Mercer, then. While this couldn't protect Mercer from the truth, the Shield covers him from the front, stopping a variety of attacks from even getting to him. Not only does it do all this without hindering his speed one bit, he can ram through crowds and obstacles with it. CHARGING STAR!!!

Wiz: But enough damage or attacks from more powerful weapons or enemies can shatter it, requiring it to fully regenerate before being used again. This isn't the case with his Armored form.

Boomstick: The Armor covers Alex's entire body, greatly reducing damage all-around. Sure, he loses a bit of speed and agility when using it, but who cares when you can turn into a walking tank?

Wiz: And should Mercer require even more strength, Musclemass greatly increases the power of melee strikes and thrown objects.

Boomstick: 'roided Mercer's punches can turn a human into paste and objects thrown hit harder and actually travel faster. Even landing from jumps are powered up to create shockwaves. And did I mention he can use Force Push? Because he kinda can.

Wiz: But Alex's deadliest attacks by far are his Devastators. Tendril Barrage can impale foes all around Alex, as does Groundspike Graveyard from below.

Boomstick: Kinda like a beefier version of the ground spike technique his claws have. But then there's Critical Pain, which locks onto and crushes a single target for maximum punishment. Critical Pain... that name would be great for a wrestling move.

Wiz: With all these abilities, Alex Mercer would more than prevail against Blackwatch and the Infected. He's defeated beasts like the Hunters, Hydras, and Elizabeth Greene, who was basically the mother of the virus.

Boomstick: He also fought Robert Cross, a Blackwatch specialist who was trained to fight people like Mercer, and these freakishly massive Super Soldiers. Look at the size of those guys!

Wiz: These Super Soldiers were injected with a variant of the virus, granting them improved muscle growth and healing factors. And if that wasn't enough, bulletproof plating was molded to their soft muscle tissue.

Boomstick: That's some Weapon X shit right there! And these guys could go toe-to-toe with Alex.

Wiz: He's smashed through a two-foot thick steel door, destroyed military bases, and broke into the Hive when not even Blackwatch alone was capable of doing so.

Boomstick: And Alex is ridiculously tough. He went into his apartment, only to have it blow up in his face, fell to the streets below, and just kept going. He can be inside of an exploding tank or helicopter, and just continue fighting almost like nothing happened.

Wiz: Mercer hardly even flinches from bullets, and has been stabbed repeatedly with a combat knife seemingly without any pain from it.

Boomstick: Even having his throat sliced hardly seemed to do a thing to him. And then there was that time Mercer got caught in a nuclear explosion.

Wiz: Blackwatch's final solution for stopping the infection was to nuke all of Manhattan. Destroying the entire island city would require over 68 kilotons of TNT.

Boomstick: One of the Infected called the Supreme Hunter theorized he could have survived the impending explosion if he consumed Alex first. Well after killing him, Mercer flew the bomb away from the city, but couldn't escape the detonation, reducing him to a puddle. But eh, his biomass just ate a crow and he grew his whole body back.

Wiz: He may have saved Manhattan that day, but Mercer's thoughts on humanity soured as time went on. He became convinced that the infection he stopped was the key to saving humanity: by having them all joined as one hive mind.

Boomstick: But since he didn't have any Pym Particles, he went back to Penn Station a year later and single-handedly started a new outbreak from the same Ground Zero as the first. He infected several individuals with his gifts by hand, turning them into Evolved, and used them to infiltrate Blackwatch and Gentek themselves to further his goal. Nothing could stop him...

Wiz: Until he came across the soldier James Heller, who intrigued Alex enough to infect him... and who would become his undoing.

Boomstick: Heller evolved at a far more rapid rate than Alex anticipated and went right to work taking down Mercer's operation. By the time Alex realized what Heller was doing and tried to stop him, Heller couldn't even be consumed by him thanks to the virus combined with his unique genes. Even after consuming eight of his own Evolved followers to power himself up, Alex just couldn't beat him.

Wiz: Mercer is incredibly durable, but consistent damage to his biomass will require him to consume others to heal. And prolonged combat with someone his equal, like Heller, can leave him unable to repair his body.

Boomstick: Tougher targets can't be consumed right away, requiring Alex to soften them up first, and even he isn't immune to his own technique, which led to Heller consuming him when all was said and done. But Alex wasn't actually that torn up about it: he even welcomed Heller to the top of the food chain.

Wiz: Anti-hero or villain, man or virus, Alex Mercer is nothing short of terrifying. Those who would stand in his way will become a part of him.

The outside of this military facility was completely trashed and the pavement around it was littered in blood, bullet casings, and rifles. Police sirens rang in the distance.

Cole MacGrath, donning his former bike courier attire with the Amp in his backpack, landed across the street. He saw all the damage from the carnage, but not a single body...

...except one lying crushed beneath a jeep. There was nothing Cole could do for this masked soldier, but he would at least find out what happened. Putting his hand to the man's head, Cole caught a glimpse of the soldier's last moments:

A whole platoon firing at once at one single target, all their shots landing, but to no effect. This soldier saw his fellow units cut to ribbons one-by-one with blades of some kind, then their bodies absorbed into this enemy. He ran towards a rocket launcher, retrieved it and turned to fire, but by

the time he did, the jeep went flying right at him.

From there, Cole saw an orange echo of the assailant, a hooded figure, running into the building. He walked towards what was left of its entrance...

???: YOU!!! STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

One of the masked soldiers exited, pointing a rifle right at Cole.

Soldier: This is a restricted area!

Cole humored him, putting his hands up. What the soldier didn't know was that Cole was scanning him:

MacGrath saw that the man wasn't human at all: in fact, upon scanning him, he had the same orange outline as the hooded man.

The soldier could tell by Cole's grin that his cover was blown and immediately jumped high into the air, attempting to escape. Cole was initially shaken by the impact of the jump, which left cracks in the ground, but then recomposed and took aim. From his right hand fired a lightning hook, which stuck to his target's leg. With a two-handed pull, Cole forced him hard to the ground.

As the man slowly got back to his feet, a dark red substance seemed to emanate from his uniform, then spread across his entire body. From there, the man revealed his true form: that of Alex Mercer.

Cole: Nice hood. Very inconspicuous.

Alex: What do you want with me?

Cole: See pal, this city's already had more than its fair share of murdering psychopaths.

He showed Alex the blue electricity flowing across his arms and fingertips.

Cole: And I'm not about to let you roam free.

Alex: This matter is beyond you.

Mercer extended an arm, showing its shape changing, as well as his hand and fingers.

Alex: And so am I.

Both of MacGrath's hands made fists, coursing with electricity.

Cole: Whatever Conduit you are... whatever powers you've got...!

He pointed right at Mercer.

Cole: I'm bringing you down! Here and now.

Mercer put both his hands into his jacket's pockets, then sighed.

Alex: I gave you a chance...

Just then, Cole saw Mercer running right towards him at high speed. He rolled to the side, just barely getting out of his way, only to see Mercer coming right back for him. He went for a side-step, then found the back of his jacket's neck gripped. With what to Alex was a casual toss, he threw Cole towards a wall.

MacGrath used his static thrusters to slow himself down, then used his feet to bounce off of it as Alex ran for another strike. It missed, but tore a hole right through it as Cole fired bolts at him. Mercer moved side-to-side as Cole switched between multiple bolt types in succession, including a triple shot. By the time Cole had a clear shot, Alex punched him square on the jaw.

After Cole was sent rolling to the ground, Mercer retrieved the rifle he held earlier and took aim right at Cole's head from a distance. The memories gave him the aim of an expert marksman as the grouping of all the shots was perfect...

...save for the lying Cole's Polarity Wall blocking them. MacGrath made it back onto his feet and ran to Mercer who decided to use the rifle's grenade launcher attachment. Cole saw the grenade coming for him and, instead of blocking with the shield, used his other hand to fire a push-like blast, knocking it forward. By the time Mercer had cocked the rifle for another shot, he saw the grenade coming right for him.

The explosion put Mercer right on his back as Cole took out his Amp from his backpack. Mercer returned to his feet and with Cole in front of him, readied his hand for a punch while its shape began to change...

...but something seemed to stun him and he gritted his teeth in irritation: he was standing in a puddle and one of Cole's feet touched it, causing electricity to run across it.

Cole: Doesn't agree with you, does it?

Even in his state, Mercer finally went through with the hit, but Cole ducked before swinging the Amp into Alex's side. He rose with three more hits, each forcing Mercer to take a step back, before leaping upward, jumping off Alex, throwing something behind him, and swinging the Amp into his face, knocking him straight down. As Mercer made it onto his knees...

...something was zapping him again: the electrocution grenade. His opponent seemingly trapped in place and unable to pull himself upward, Cole stepped back and began to raise his arms. Mercer didn't know what Cole was about to do, but something told him he wanted to get out of the way. He raised his head and arms, seeing something was brewing in the sky above him and, in defiance of the attack...

Cole: Too easy.

Mercer's fists transformed into the Hammerfists, then both struck the ground so hard they created a small earthquake.

Cole: Whoa!

He was knocked off his feet as Mercer immediately stood in front of him, a gut punch of epic proportions rocketing him into a car.

Cole was practically embedded into the car, slowly pulling himself out of the mess.

Alex: You think you're in control?

He could feel Mercer's movement, which were much heavier than earlier. His mind ran as he looked at his surroundings until he saw a power line close by.

Alex: You have no idea what I'm capable of.

He fired off his lightning tether, pulling him out of the path of Mercer practically launching himself in his direction. The intended attack sent Alex straight through the car and the wall behind it, and by the time he emerged, Cole was already riding on power lines and gaining speed.

Just by extending his fingers by the line, Cole began to pull in electricity, healing him from the injury prior. He heard small pieces of debris falling from behind him and turned his head.

Alex: There's no use running!

He saw Mercer running after him on the side of a building.

Cole: Show off.

Without turning around completely, Cole rotated just enough to fire an electrical rocket from his hand while still traveling at the same speed. Mercer immediately leapt to the other side, continuing his run from another building. Cole turned once more and fired another rocket, only to see Mercer avoid it just as easily.

Alex entertained Cole long enough and lunged, heading for Cole with a diving kick. In that instant, Cole focuses, time around Mercer and himself slowing down as he took aim. A powerful bolt to Mercer's head caused a near-miss as Mercer crashed to the streets below.

Seeing Cole getting away, he put his hand beneath a car in front of him and flung it with great force. The car tore through power lines, even as it began to break apart. Cole ducked to avoid a bumper, then saw the remains of the car cutting down the power lines in front of him.

He lost his footing and landed on his shoulder, attempting a controlled roll. Upon making it to his feet, he saw Mercer coming right at him with a shield-like construct in front of him.

Cole: Oh come on...

Alex rammed into him, the two going through the display window of a building. From outside, the sounds of electricity and several breaking objects could be heard. Finally, Cole was knocked through another display window, rolling until he stopped himself.

Mercer exited, then leapt into the air, aiming his shield for a crashing descent. Cole rolled backward, avoiding it, then threw another grenade. Mercer saw this and moved his shield in such a fashion to knock it away from him. Cole fired bolts, all of which the shield was stopping so far, and grinned since he knew something Mercer didn't...

...the grenade Alex thought he knocked away was stuck to his shield. The sticky grenade finally detonated, taking a chunk off the shield and briefly catching Mercer's attention.

As Cole aimed his hand for any number of attacks, a barbed wire-like weapon wrapped itself around his arm. The end of it, housing a spear point, nearly struck Cole's face when he managed to catch it with his other hand. He caught a glance of Mercer behind his shield and saw the Whipfist was his other arm transformed.

Cole: You're an interesting Conduit, all right.

He pulled MacGrath towards him, then close-lined his opponent with his shield. As Cole lied on his back, he saw Alex about to bring the shield down on his neck.

Alex: I am no Conduit.

Before he could go through with the decapitation, he saw Cole putting out a hand. Alex was flung into the air, then seemed to be floating in place, like being held on strings. In his confusion, he failed to see that Cole was using a magnetic field to keep him afloat.

Cole: Catch ya later!

With two palms pushing forward, Alex was launched backward, covered in kinetic energy. He was knocked through a wall, the biomass making up his jacket appearing partially tattered. As he began to recover, he saw a horde of electric missiles coming right for him.

Mercer was blown through another wall and into the path of a tanker truck. His impact into the cab's front caused it to tip over, rolling on its side.

The truck's driver, having exited through the shattered windshield, saw Mercer crouched over and approached him.

Driver: Are you okay?

Mercer turned, chunks of his face missing and holes in his chest area.

Cole, just arriving, gasped at what he inadvertently caused.

Cole: No, no, no...

By the time he turned to see where Mercer was, he saw the truck driver being absorbed into him, and all Alex's wounds healing.

Cole: You...!

He only caught a glimpse in the vision, but seeing the consumption first-hand, and on a civilian, infuriated him.

Cole: You monster!

Alex saw Cole taking aim, then turned to the tanker behind him. He knew it was Cole's intended target, but made no attempt to avoid it.

BOOM!

A massive explosion went off, one that even caused Cole to shield his face. He looked at the flaming wreckage, seeing only the remains of the tanker...

Alex: Yes...

Mercer slowly walked through the flames, donned in an armor of some kind from top to bottom.

Alex: I am a monster...

His right hand was the Whipfist once again while his left arm was a four-fingered claw.

Alex: And nothing will protect you from me.

Cole: Spare me the crap!

He fired bolts away at Mercer, who only walked forward. In his armor, Cole's bolts didn't seem to phase Alex at this point. Now in range, Mercer swung his Whipfist, Cole ducking and rolling swings from it. One seemed to be too fast for Cole, who used a blast to knock it backward. He had an opportunity to fire a rocket...

...and Cole did not care for the sound of him being out of juice.

Cole: ...damn it.

Quickly, he scanned, finding a transformer box nearby. He ran for it as Mercer continued his slow approach. Just then, Alex slammed his clawed hand into the ground. Cole didn't understand it at first until he scanned again, sensing something from underground.

He rolled to the side immediately, but saw that whatever was underground kept going forward towards the transformer box. Just then, a massive spike came from the ground, tearing apart the entire thing. But Cole saw electricity surging across the spike and Mercer appearing stunned for a moment as he destroyed it.

Alex: Where is your power now?

But Cole saw a display window filled with TVs, each showing 2D animated battles. He absorbed electricity from all of them, feeling refreshed.

Cole: There's plenty to go around.

With a roar, Mercer lunged, avoiding a fired rocket by Cole. MacGrath suddenly shot up into the air on a pillar of ice to Alex's surprise, then threw a grenade of ice at his back. Mercer was forced to his knees for a moment as Cole then landed on him with Thunder Drop. Afterward, Cole created ice shards from thin air, then blasted them at Alex with some knocking him back and others going into him.

Cole: Had enough there, killer?

Mercer crouched over, and from what Cole could tell by scanning him, something inside him was about to be unleashed.

Alex: I haven't even begun.

Dozens of tendrils fired off from Mercer's body and Cole had to think fast. With Precision, he was able to slow time around him, avoiding most of them, but one was just too quick for him, impaling his shoulder. Time returned to normal soon after as Mercer pulled Cole towards him, then held him by the top of his head with his clawed hand.

Alex: You stood in my way...

His Whipfist hand stabbed into Cole's back.

Alex: ...so now you will join me.

Cole tried firing bolts at him, but Alex knew it would not hurt him.

Alex: One body. One mind. Just as humanity should be.

Cole: Oh, God...

After MacGrath's remark, the rocket from before slammed into Mercer's back, forcing him to let go of Cole.

Cole: Maniacs like you are a dime a dozen!

Mercer went for a swing with his claw, but Cole ducked and, having formed the Gigawatt Blades, swung at his right foot. Even in his armored state, it cut his foot right off. The swing missed due to the sudden wound, and before Alex could try to readjust, Cole slashed at his hand, cutting that off as well.

Cole: And you're leaving my city!

Alex's remaining hand transformed into a Hammerfist and stopped Cole's intended decapitation, resulting in only a glancing cut of the weapon. Just then, Alex twisted his arm to swing the fist down onto him, so Cole blocked with both Gigawatt blades. The impact from one Hammerfist alone still grounded him, but Cole quickly fired off a blast...

...but Mercer saw the technique coming and his Hammerfist became a claw, stabbing into the ground. What Cole intended to sent him off his feet only pushed him back a few inches. But Cole soon realized what was going on beneath him and leapt to the side, barely avoiding the spike coming out of the ground. But as he landed, he was met by a massive blade.

Alex: It's no use.

Cole blocked again with the Gigawatt blades, but this blade tore through them, managing a small slash to his chest. He took out the Amp with one hand, then reached out for a street light with the other. He siphoned some electricity, but couldn't help feeling like he should've been absorbing it more quickly.

Cole: Come on, come on...!

Just then, Mercer closed the distance and took another swing, Cole barely getting out of the way in time and the post being cut down with ease. MacGrath noticed Alex was back in his jacketed form, which explained why he was that much faster.

Cole made the first swing, clashing with the blade, and his other hand going for another blast. Alex swerved his body to the side to avoid it, then swung at Cole's legs. MacGrath managed to hop onto the blade and put the Amp up against Alex's neck, the electricity zapping him. He swung himself with the Amp around Mercer, then went for a maneuver to launch Alex off his feet.

Instead, Mercer stood on his feet and Cole and the Amp landed in front of him.

Cole: You gotta be kidding me...

Now Alex was on the offensive, swinging at Cole's Amp as MacGrath tried to cover himself, and after a few swings...

...the blade cut into one of the Amp's bars. Cole was shocked, but kept swinging away, only to find the blade continued to do damage to his melee weapon.

Alex: I told you: nothing will protect you.

One swing of the blade took off the entire bar.

Alex: Not your weapon!

That swing turned the Amp into little more than a handle at this point. Cole attempted a lunge with two Gigawatt blades, but was met by a slash to his back.

Alex: Not your powers!

Cole fired a grenade, which split into several before landing, but Alex simply ran around them. As Cole charged up his hands for a more powerful ice technique, it struck him too late that Mercer was too quick for him...

...swinging with a clawed hand at his chest. Cole backed up, but was met by another slash, then a two-handed one. After rolling, Cole saw how dire his situation was and tried firing a lightning tether to escape, but the Whipfist grabbed him by his leg, then yanked him back down. Mercer swung and slammed Cole repeatedly before launching Cole with all his strength towards a building. Cole braced for impact with his shield.

From outside this building, a small cloud of debris exploded out from a middle floor. Cole emerged falling, landing hard onto the streets below overlooking the water. Cole still had the claw marks fresh in his chest from before, as well as dust from the building he was just tossed through covering his jacket. He barely made it to his feet, using a parked car to help him up. He knew it wouldn't be long before Alex found him, so he tried charging from the vehicle next to him...

...but he still struggled just to absorb electricity from it.

Cole: Why is this happening to me?

Alex: The virus.

Before Cole could turn and attack, Mercer lifted Cole by both of his arms.

Alex: The same virus that will unite this city.

Cole: Sick... bastard...

Alex: If you won't accept my gift...

He began to pull both of Cole's arms, intending to rip him in two.

Alex: ...you will die from it.

With what little electricity Cole had left, he used Precision and turned both hands toward Alex's head. If he missed this one, he was as good as dead.

Cole: No...

Both sides of Mercer's face were struck by two far more powerful bolts than before. These bolts seriously singed both sides, burning everything from his ears towards his eyes. Now free, Cole suddenly surged with a blue aura of electricity: Karmic Overload.

Cole: Not while I draw breath!

One powered-up bolt fired at Mercer's knee, nearly taking half his leg off and forcing him down, then MacGrath fired off a barrage. Alex tried to call upon his newly-regenerated shield only for each bolt to tear a hole right through it to Mercer himself.

Cole: I'm going to save this city...!

As he was struck back by each one, part of his body searing, he reactivated his armor and was left with no other option than to try to protect himself.

Cole: ...from the likes of you!

Once the lengthy barrage ended, the blue aura left Cole and he saw clouds of dust in front of him. He had his hands on his knees, breathing heavily: he put his everything into that.

But then he heard chuckling. Labored and pained, but chuckling all the same.

Cole walked through the dust slowly, seeing that Mercer still stood...

...or stood as best as he could, having no legs to stand on. Both his arms were missing as well with only bones sticking out. Alex's armored form was heavily seared, several holes straight through his body as his armored face cracked at the seems. It gave way, revealing his right eye, then revealing another, and soon his entire face save for his mouth was visible.

Even in the state he was in, coughing up blood, he chuckled.

Cole: Something funny?

He looked Cole in the eyes, something red beginning to ooze from his chest.

Alex Mercer: Life and death no longer bind me.

Cole could tell Mercer wasn't looking to give himself up, and with everything Cole had seen so far, he also suspected Mercer, even having been reduced to having no limbs, wasn't done yet.

He wasn't taking any chances. He stayed where he was, not about to approach him, and raised his hands once more uninterrupted. Mercer saw lightning brewing from above him and was in no position to move or to stop it.

But as a massive lightning bolt came down from the clouds, a ring of red mist exited Mercer's body.

Cole: Die!

Mercer could feel himself being melted, torn apart, by the lightning's sheer heat and power. It almost looked as if his biomass inside the armor began to melt away first, soon followed by the armor shattering.

But Cole saw himself surrounded by red and breathing it in. He kept up the lightning attack, making sure nothing was left of Mercer, but the mist was getting to him. A cough, followed by a rougher one...

...until Cole finally lost his footing and fell onto his hands coughing, stopping the attack. He covered this cough with his hand, seeing blood in it.

Cole: What did he do to me?

He looked down at the crater the lightning created, and saw only a small red puddle remaining.

Cole: ...still alive?

MacGrath took aim with both hands, surging with electricity...

...and nothing fired.

Cole: No, not now!

Again, he tried to fire, but nothing changed.

Cole: This can't be happening!

He felt pain in his side and grasped it, his eyes looking down at the puddle...

...and tendrils emerging from it. By the time he saw this, Cole felt himself being pulled down as if his shoes were tied together. He landed chest-first in the puddle and tried to get up, but saw it wrapping itself around his body. A red cocoon formed, encompassing his entire lower body and spreading over the rest of him.

MacGrath reached out with his hand, still trying to fire electricity from it, but as it was pulled back by the tendrils...

Cole: No... way...

A Blackwatch gunship flew in, shining a spotlight on the crater.

Pilot: Located Zeus... with a civilian.

He put his hand on the fire controls.

Pilot: Preparing to fir...

A lightning bolt nearly struck the chopper, forcing it to swerve.

Pilot: Shit!

From across the water, several bolts of lightning could be seen striking other parts of the city.

Pilot: Got a thunder storm here!

He got the gunship back into position, locking onto the red mass in the crater.

A massive bolt of lightning struck the crater.

Pilot: The hell's going on here?!

When the lightning bolt dissipated, Cole stood, looking up at the chopper.

Pilot: Firing now!

A missile fired from the gunship coming right for Cole, but instead of trying to get away from it, he leapt towards it. He managed to land on the missile before leaping off, the explosive hitting the crater as intended.

The pilot didn't know what was happening.

Pilot: Who... what is this guy?!

Cole: Say goodnight.

He landed, bringing his hands down and summoning another bolt of lightning, striking the chopper's tail rotor.

Cole watched as the gunship span out of control before crashing in the water, then looked back at the crater he was just in. Empty and completely barren with no trace of red in sight. MacGrath turned back towards the water and the other side of the city, seeing the lightning storm still continuing. The battle over, Cole put both his hands behind his neck...

...and lifted a grey hood over his head. His courier jacket, which looked clean and without any cuts, began transforming into a black-grey jacket with a white buttoned shirt. Cole grinned as his face shifted into that of Alex Mercer's.

K.O.!

Results

Boomstick: You know, I never got why Zeus was Alex's code name... but it kinda makes sense now.

Wiz: Both combatants faced their toughest and most unpredictable opponents by far in what was by no means a one-sided match-up.

Boomstick: Mercer's primarily fought military forces and the Infected, so Cole firing electricity and ice at him was completely new to him. And while Cole's seen some weird and freaky Conduits, he's never seen anything on Alex's level. But even then, they shared several feats like fighting armed forces, creatures far stronger than normal humans, and taking down 50 foot monsters.

Wiz: So to determine the victor, we first had to look at their defined limitations. For starters, neither Cole nor Mercer's shields were going to be able to block each other's biggest hits, as both have succumbed to large enough impacts and even rockets.

Boomstick: And just to get these big ones out of the way, no, Cole and Mercer weren't going to be busting moons, and neither have light speed or even lightning speed. "But wait! If Kessler could move and attack as fast as lightning, shouldn't Cole be able to as well?"

Wiz: Firstly, Kessler's teleports were always from a short distance in one direction, and nowhere nearly as instantaneous as lightning would be. Secondly, even assuming Kessler's blasts fired at the same speed as real-life lightning, it takes Kessler one second just to charge up his shot, giving Cole more than enough time to see the attack coming before it actually fired.

Boomstick: Like avoiding a gunshot without actually moving at the speed of a bullet because you saw the shooter getting ready first. It's the reason Cole uses cover and parkour to make himself a harder target to hit: he doesn't casually dodge bullets. If he did, Cole would be a completely different character.

Wiz: With that out of the way, now let's see how the two fared physically, starting with their speed. If we assume Cole's running speed to be 28 miles per hour, on par with the fastest Olympic runner in the world Usain Bolt, Mercer has shown he could easily go over 100.

Boomstick: And that's without rails or wires for Cole to ride on, which definitely make him faster, but aren't always available to him.

Wiz: As for parkour speed, Cole has managed to tail helicopters, but could never quite match their speed while Alex has often exceeded them, putting his speed at 160 miles per hour at minimum.

Boomstick: Moving on to strength, Cole's best feats in that department are lifting three to four ton cars with Kinetic Pulse. But in InFamous 2's user generated mission creator, the player can interact with a Militia semi truck, including lifting it with Kinetic Pulse. Obviously, if the developers didn't want Cole to be able to lift it, the game wouldn't let the player do that, so it's fair game to assume Cole is capable of it. That would put his maximum strength at just under 10 tons.

Wiz: Alex once flipped an M1 Abrams tank, which weighs 60 tons at bare minimum... and that's not accounting for additional weaponry and gear.

Boomstick: And he didn't just lift it: he casually flipped it with one hand. And if he could do that half-assed, I wouldn't want to be tossed by him when he's putting his everything into it. And now the big one: durability.

Wiz: Durability is a bit tricky for both combatants: Cole has survived bullet wounds and an RPG, but surviving the 6 block explosion caused by the Ray Sphere isn't quite what it seems to be.

Boomstick: For one, context helps a lot here: the Ray Sphere was designed to give powers to its user, not to murder them. So you can't really look at it as someone trying to kill Cole with an explosion.

Wiz: Kessler had the Ray Sphere tested thoroughly to ensure Cole's survival. In their final battle, Kessler even admitted he was worried Cole wouldn't wake up when he used it.

Boomstick: And Cole's not the only one to survive a Ray Sphere going off: Bertrand used it as well, and the Conduit Nix was in the crowd he sacrificed. Not saying every Conduit has the same durability, but the Ray Sphere is literally designed to work for them.

Wiz: But let's give the benefit of the doubt and take the entire explosion as Cole's highest durability feat. Then that would mean Cole survived a force just under one kiloton of TNT.

Boomstick: As for Alex's, that's easy: taking a nuke designed to wipe out Manhattan island. In the credits of Prototype, the explosive yield was estimated to be at 75 kilotons, five times the power of the Hiroshima Bomb.

Wiz: But even if the 75 kiloton calculation was misinformed, it would take 68 kilotons minimum to accomplish Blackwatch's task. Even a fraction of this is still far greater than any durability feat Cole has shown.

Boomstick: I'd also point out that it's even greater than the 51 kilotons needed to blow up the Beast, buuut there is one catch: Alex wasn't at the center of it. That still puts his durability over Cole's, of course, but it does mean that Mercer took substantially less from that nuke than one would assume.

Wiz: Turning what would seemed to be a lopsided match-up into one theoretically winnable for Cole: his maximum destructive capacity being able to match or exceed Mercer's durability.

Boomstick: And Cole's no stranger to fighting foes who outclass him in several stats. Plus, Precision's time slow gave him the ability to cope with the speed difference, so perhaps that with enough Beast-damaging bolts could allow MacGrath to reduce Mercer to mush, then nothing at all. Problem with that was Mercer didn't need to attack with the power of a nuke to kill Cole.

Wiz: Cole certainly has a knack for surviving tremendous blunt force, but that's not to say Mercer couldn't simply knock Cole unconscious by matching or exceeding the force of the falling steel beam.

Boomstick: Then there's the claws and blade. Yes, Cole could heal from a stabbing wound, but being cut apart? Not so much. No amount of electricity'll reattach pieces of him. But there's still tons of questions to go over, starting with the most asked: "If Cross' stun baton could, well, stun Alex, shouldn't Cole be able to do the same thing with his electrical attacks?"

Wiz: Cole's bolts and most of his other attacks are of a brief duration, compared to the baton, which could be held continuously. Even then, as the Hydras Alex created could resist such shocks, it stands to reason Alex has gained at least an improved resistance to them.

Boomstick: So electricity's not Mercer's Kryptonite, but it also isn't completely harmless either. So any attack that landed would be felt, but it would take higher caliber electric attacks to seriously damage him. And even then, his biomass could certainly regenerate from that. Ditto ice, as Alex's biomass has dealt with low temperatures before. Next: "If Cole once recharged from a lightning storm, why couldn't he just do that against Mercer for unlimited power?"

Wiz: Cole summoning the individual bolts of lightning to absorb power from them was impressive, but changing the weather to that of a lightning storm is not something Cole can actually do.

Boomstick: Let's be totally clear: if at any time a storm brewed in a battle between the two, Cole would win, no questions asked. But he couldn't force a lightning storm to happen, only calling upon individual bolts at the cost of his own power.

Wiz: And that leads to one of the three biggest factors in determining this fight, starting with Cole having enough electricity on hand.

Boomstick: We weren't going to put the two in a field in the middle of nowhere, so in a city area, yeah, Cole would have plenty to call upon. The only problem was Mercer.

Wiz: Alex was certainly intelligent enough to figure out Cole's reliance on absorbing electricity, and with that knowledge, he could destroy sources of electricity or simply keep Cole from getting to them.

Boomstick: Which he could definitely do with factor #2: Mercer had the far better mobility options. Cole had to rely on powers to climb buildings faster, but for Mercer, it was second nature. If Alex decided to, say, consume a bystander, he could get away from Cole, whereas if MacGrath tried the same to recharge, there wasn't much he could do about Mercer aside from standing his ground.

Wiz: Precision could help with the agility and speed gap, but Precision also runs on Cole's reserves. That and his healing factor were paramount to keeping Cole in the fight, and once his reserves went empty, Cole was finished.

Boomstick: Leading into this last factor that made the biggest difference: Mercer's Blacklight virus. Cole could deal with with Alex's strength, speed, transformations, and weaponry, but he really had no defense against that.

Wiz: He could certainly resist being Consumed, and it'd likely take time for Mercer to turn him into a full-on Infected, but the Blacklight virus literally altering Cole's DNA was all but guaranteed to interfere with his abilities.

Boomstick: If having Sasha's black tar in his system could mess with Cole's reserves, a living virus could certainly wreck havoc over the course of a prolonged battle. And all Mercer had to do was get in a deep-enough cut or even just cover the area in the airborne virus. *sighs* It's a tough break. I mean it took prolonged battle with James Heller, a prototype that surpassed him, to bring Mercer down for good, and unfortunately, Cole just wasn't there.

Wiz: Cole is a great character and could win this bout in several scenarios, but Mercer's stats, arsenal, and Blacklight virus ultimately gave him the majority.

Boomstick: MacGrath gave it his very best here, but the odds were simply too biomassive. *sniffles*

So if you've been waiting on my character analysis of Inuyasha... that's gonna be a while longer.

For now, here's a little battle between two other half-demon warriors.

And before you ask, no, I don't want this to become an actual Death Battle: this was just something I decided to write up on the DBF Wiki.

Enjoy.

Limbo City

Business hadn't been doing so well for Dante and Devil May Cry. Aside from the usual debt he was perpetually drowning in, it seemed like no demon he took care of interested anyone anymore: it was like he had faced every kind of demon there was.

He decided to take a big gamble: word was that there were sightings of demons in this city, each different from his usual fare. If he could find and showcase some of these "new" demons at Devil May Cry, maybe that could spark some interest and revenue. Or so Dante hoped. He knew if this gamble failed that Morrison would never let him hear the end of it.

Nonetheless, Dante simply wandered across the town whose people didn't even bat an eye at his red coat: it was like they were too brainwashed to care. He decided to start his search at the most popular night club in town: Devil's Dalliance. If that name didn't promise the presence of demons, he didn't know what would.

He walked towards the door when someone's arm stopped him: a bald bouncer in a black suit and bow tie with a clipboard in his hand and a bandage over his nose.

Bouncer: You're not on the list. Beat it.

Dante simply smirked with a "Oh really?" expression as the bouncer eyed him. Upon looking at his coat, gloves, and boots, as well as his face, the bouncer was struck with the worst case of déjà vu. He recalled telling off another young man who wasn't on the list, only to be punched in the face and knocked out. Suddenly, it was like the two were in the same place, one and the same. His nonexistent facial expression cracked at the seems as he shook in terror.

He moved to the side hurriedly as Dante entered the night club without any further hassle. Just from taking a gander, there wasn't anything of demonic make just yet: just strobe lights, neon decor, stripper poles, and dancers sporting angel wings. Not the kind of place Dante would normally visit and he doubted the bartenders would have the ingredients to make him a strawberry sundae. He simply continued traversing the place, his presence undetectable to everyone inside...

Or so it seemed. Suddenly, white text emerged on the walls along with a demonic voice:

???: DANTE!

Dante looked over at the people around him only to find them completely oblivious to the ordeal... and fading, almost like shadows. Unknown to the seasoned demon hunter, he had been taken into Limbo.

On an upper area sat someone in a white tank top, faded black jeans and boots with a red pendant around his neck and sporting a curious black hairstyle. He drank from a bottle while surrounded by some of the dancers from downstairs. He heard the same voice as the demon hunter.

???: DANTE!

This Dante simply shrugged in minor annoyance.

DmC Dante: Really?

The women he was with faded away as he reached for his faded black and red jacket, which was on the stool next to him.

The entire landscape of the night club shifted, almost as if reality was warping before Dante's eyes: the speakers rose and floated upward, the dance floor glowed an orange patterned hue, and large rectangular walls grew out of the ground to surround him while also moving to the club's music.

Dante: Look, I can stand here and wait while you sort this out or we can get down to business. What'll it be?

No response from the voice. Dante simply tapped his foot, looking up at the upper area past the walls. It sounded like demons were gathering above him, but they were going in the other direction.

Dante: No loss. There's better game out there.

In mid-sentence, he saw a red-masked demon in a tattered black robe appearing above him, staring at him upside down. As per usual, nothing would faze him.

Dante: Hello there.

This demon disappeared, then reemerged standing a distance from him. This demon, the Drekavac, drew two twin swords and pointed one at Dante.

Dante: Now you're exactly the kind of demon I've been looking for.

These demons, Stygians, amassed around DmC Dante and watched as he put one hand through his jacket, and noticing nothing else in his hands. One swung its blade at him as DmC Dante swerved to avoid it, grabbed hold of the bottle from before and swung it into the demon's jaw.

Dante and the Drekavac charged towards each other as both the demon's blades clashed with Rebellion.

DmC Dante tried getting his other arm into the jacket as two more Stygians tried to get the jump on him. He grabbed one's arm and used its blade to deflect the other's.

As Dante gained the upper hand, the Drekavac teleported a short distance away before it could be struck. He thought nothing of it: if anything, it was a fun bout thus far.

The two Stygians flew backwards in opposite directions as DmC Dante leapt into the remaining ranks, uppercutting one into the air, booting another away, gut-punching through the next, and slamming one face-first to the ground with just one hand.

The Drekavac went on a teleporting frenzy, trying to find an opening or even get Dante to flinch, but the demon hunter blocked or moved his head to avoid its slashes.

Two left and DmC Dante saw one slashing from below and one higher. He jumped, swerving in midair to avoid both, then grabbed hold of both Stygians' blades. The two were lifted off their feet, then sent crashing into each other, their blades piercing one another. He then jumped over them, grabbing each of their heads, and slammed them into each other as hard as he could. Their porcelain doll-like faces shattered as DmC Dante finally got his jacket on entirely.

He couldn't help but hear commotion below him. Without even looking below him, he leapt high above to see what was going on for himself.

The Drekavac was out of sight and Dante had a feeling he knew where it was headed. He turned around and caught the demon red-handed; Rebellion and the dual blades in a power struggle. He grinned as he continued pushing the demon backward.

Dante: That was fun, but now...

He shoved the Drekavac back, just long enough for an exposed strike. He took out Ebony and Ivory and took aim for his head.

Dante: Jackp...

Before he could make his trademark quip, something came crashing down onto the Drekavac, severing its head from its body and leaving a slice in the ground. He looked over at who he perceived as some kid, who had taken his kill from him with a sword like his.

DmC Dante: You're welcome, pal.

Dante: I had that one.

DmC Dante: 'scuse you?

Dante: I came all this way for him and I'm afraid I just can't have you taking the credit for this one.

DmC Dante: Well if you couldn't kill him before I got there, then I don't see how that's my problem.

Dante: I've been in this business for a long time, so how about some professional courtesy, kid?

DmC Dante: Seems more to me like you're lost, old man. You even know you're in Limbo right now?

Dante reached behind him for Rebellion's handle and swung it as quickly as he could, only to see it caught by DmC Dante's own Rebellion.

Dmc Dante: You asked for it!

With his other hand, he punched Dante in the face. Dante was surprised at how hard he was hit by what seemed to be a scrawny teen in a jacket, but upon wiping his lip with his gloved hand, he smirked back at him.

Dante: This party's about to get crazy.

He twirled his sword around as DmC Dante cracks his neck.

DmC Dante: Let's rock!

Dante thrusts his sword forward.

Dante: That's my line!

DmC Dante followed suit as their Rebellions were about to collide once more.

FIGHT!

Upon their two swords striking head-on, the two Dante's immediately transitioned to another stance, during which they rapidly stabbed with their respected Rebellions. The swords either bounced off one another or missed their mark as the two continued their assault. DmC Dante's guard finally gave out as his classic counterpart went for one final stab to end it all. As he aimed true enough, he soon saw that DmC Dante had matrix-dodged it, then swung his Rebellion at his feet. He jumped upward and bounced off of the blade, then went for a kick, only to see his boot barely miss his opponent's swerving upper body.

The two span in place for just a moment, then their swords met in a power struggle. Dante smirked as he pushed his DmC counterpart back before swinging Rebellion upward. DmC Dante blocked the blow, but was struck high into the air.

DmC Dante: Whoa!

Dante simply pointed Ebony and Ivory upward at his foe and fired away, only to hear the sound of similar weaponry: DmC Dante's own twin handguns. Their bullets richocheted off of one another, then began bouncing off the walls. Dante leapt upward to avoid some bullets redirected back at him, but still kept his aim true, as did DmC Dante. Finally, the two landed to the ground, the bouncing bullets having finally stopped moving, and the two with only a few bullet holes in the bottom of their coats.

Dante: Your toys ain't bad...

He put away his trademark firearms and instead reach for another set of twin weapons.

Dante: But they're still just pale copies.

DmC Dante didn't take the insult towards his lineague's weapons lightly and went for a downward swing, which Dante sidestepped before unleashing a fire-enhanced slash, which his DmC counterpart blocked. He was then met with a wind-powered slash, which sent him crashing into one of the bouncing rectangular walls. He fell to the ground on his hands, leaving cracks in the wall, then grasped his chest.

Dante: Got anything of your own?

He swung Agni and Rudra rapidly before stabbing both into the ground, creating a massive flame that headed towards his opponent. He then saw the flames put out by what appeared to be the head of an axe. Dante looked over and saw his opponent with the heavy axe Arbiter.

DmC Dante: How about this?!

Dante went for a block with his blades, only to find it broken by the sheer weight of the Arbiter's first swing. The next struck him dead-on, sending him rolling. DmC Dante's third swing created what seemed to be an afterimage of the impact, which crept forward as Dante got into a blocking position once more. This time, before the attack could strike him, what looked like a fiery twister surrounded Dante, putting out the attack.

Agni: Ashes to ashes!

DmC Dante: Umm... what?!

Dante then flew above his DmC counterpart, unleashing a more powerful vortex of flame.

Rudra: Dust to dust!

Dante ceased his attack and held both weapons in front of him.

Dante: No talking!

The voices of the blades remained quiet as he looked and saw no signs of his opponent.

Dante: Just as I figured... too easy.

K.

Suddenly, a scythe-esque weapon struck Dante, then yanked him up into the air as he saw his opponent, who didn't show even a single singe mark on him from before.

DmC Dante: You underestimated me!

Two swings kept Dante in place, then DmC Dante span Osiris above his head rapidly, knocking Dante upward further before sending him flying backward. The two landed on their feet, then DmC Dante lunged forward with a sweep, only to find Osiris caught by Agni and Rudra. He was flung behind Dante, but flipped in midair so his feet touched the walls. He jumped off, launching Arbiter's axe head once more, which Dante swung at with Rebellion. To DmC Dante's surprise, it was swung backward like a baseball struck by a bat.

Dante: Batter up!

DmC Dante barely avoided it by a hair... or several.

Dante: See? Gave you a haircut. You're welcome.

DmC Dante: Says "Anime Hippie" here.

Dante wasn't wounded by his words, but nonetheless put away Rebellion and charged in for a punch. DmC Dante saw the move clearly choreographed and met it with one of his own...

Each with their own gauntlets: the dragon-faced Ifrit and the metal red Eryx.

The two stood in place and boxed fairly evenly before both went for a ducking uppercut. The two flew upward until DmC Dante slammed Dante downward with Eryx. Dante struck the ground so hard he bounced back upward, then was slammed back downward once more. As DmC Dante landed, he was met with a fireball approaching him. He simply punched it, which did the trick, but left him open to a fiery roundhouse kick. He stopped himself from flying all the way back by punching at the ground, leaving a trail until he stopped.

He tore his embedded fist out of the floor, then saw Dante launching another fireball. He stepped backward, then stepped forward with a right hook. Dante span for just a moment before unleashing a flurry of kicks, which DmC Dante could barely keep up with. Barely, though he managed to some exhaustion. Seeing an opportunity, Dante surrounded his body in flames. In the face of this, DmC Dante simply charged his fist for one single powerful strike. Dante gave no thought to it and unleashed a wall of fire, which seared everything in front of him...

...almost everything. Before he even saw DmC Dante unharmed, all he saw was Eryx striking him straight in the face. The sheer force sent him flying into the wall he had knocked DmC Dante into earlier, only this time, the sheer force sent him crashing through it.

In front of the entrance to Devil's Dalliance, nothing was amiss at all. Within Limbo, Dante flew out of the club, then rolled through an alleyway before finally stopping himself against a mailbox towards the streets of Limbo City. DmC Dante stepped towards him, his own Rebellion over his shoulders confidently.

DmC Dante: Had your fun yet, gramps?

Dante spat on the ground, with just a touch of blood in his saliva.

Dante: You drew first blood, so I guess I'm going to have to start taking this seriously.

DmC Dante saw a parked car a short distance behind him, then struck it with Ophion. He then pulled it in Dante's direction, launching the car right at him.

Dante: That's cute.

He didn't even move his legs: he simply cut the car in half with Rebellion, then stabbed the sword through one of the halves before tossing it back at his DmC counterpart. DmC Dante hopped off the thrown half and fired Ophion. Dante jumped high into the air and took out Ebony and Ivory.

Dante: You missed.

Instead of indulging him to what he already knew, DmC Dante simply grinned at him. Dante knew something had to be up, but aimed all the same. He saw Ophion retracting back and then pulled the trigger, getting off a few shots as some kind of thin and round weapon knocked away his shots. Just then, he was struck on the back of the head by part of the wall which Ophion had pulled into him. DmC Dante then fired at him with his shotgun Revanent, knocking him further back before he was met by the spinning shuriken-esque weapon Aquila.

DmC Dante: And you can stick around.

In the real world, nothing that had occurred in the battle thus far had a visible effect on Limbo City or its drone-like denizens. None could see or hear what was transpiring between the two Dante's...

All except for one. A young woman in an orange jacket with a white hood, shorts and boots, and with a star tattoo on her forehead. This woman, Kat, heard what clearly sounded like a shotgun and turned to find its source.

Kat: Is that...?

DmC Dante: And you can stick around.

DmC Dante began charging Revanent for a more powerful shot when he caught a familiar face in the corner of his eye.

Dmc Dante: Kat?

Kat: Dante, what are you doing here?

She turned and saw what seemed to be another man in a trenchcoat kept in place by Aquila.

Kat: Who is that?

DmC Dante: Can we talk about this later? I just need to...

Dante: Pay attention, kid!

DmC Dante turned and was struck by a pair of icy nunchakus, Cerberus.

Around the same area was a woman in black pants, boots, and corset with long blonde hair. Trish had a feeling Dante was in this town looking for demons for his business. No sign of him yet...

Kat: Dante!

Trish ran over to Kat to investigate.

Trish: You see him?

Kat: Do you know him?

Trish: Where is Dante?

Kat: He's in Limbo... fighting someone. I can barely make him out, but he's not a demon... or a human.

As much as DmC Dante wanted to listen in to Kat's conversation, he knew after that last blow to pay attention to the fight and had been fending off Cerberus with Aquila. He was caught off-guard by ice pillars springing in front of him and proceeded to shatter each with Revanent, only to be met with a huge mass of ice that surrounded his opponent.

DmC Dante: Playing hard to get, is that it?

He began chipping away at it with Rebellion while Dante sat on a mini ice pillar, waiting for him to get through.

Dante: C'mon, put your back into it.

Instead of cutting it further, he launched Ophion into it, then tugged as hard as he could. The mass began to crack and finally the front gave out, covering that area of Limbo with shards of ice. Just as he had done this, he saw Dante sliding toward him on his knees, wielding what seemed like a guitar in his hands, Nevan.

DmC Dante: Okay, what in the...?!

A bolt of lightning struck him dead-on, followed by a swarm of bats. They didn't amount to much as DmC Dante span Aquila rapidly, cutting them down around him. More bolts fired as he jumped across the area to avoid them. He jumped toward Dante, who swung Nevan, which became a scythe-like blade, right at him.

Instead, DmC Dante dashed right past him in mid-air, as if boosted ahead by an unknown force, then Dante felt Nevan leaving his hands. It had been pulled from him by Ophion, which dragged it right to his DmC counterpart, who readied the Arbiter. In one chop, Nevan was cut in two.

Dante: You're a real lady killer, aren't ya, kid?

DmC Dante: You done holding back or what, pops?

Dante: Holding back?

A red aura began emanating from him: he began drawing power from his Devil Trigger form.

Dante: The moment I give it my all, you lose.

DmC Dante: We'll see about that.

The two drew their own respected Rebellions and in one clash, DmC Dante's blade was pushed back. With just a single strike of his palm, DmC Dante crashed into a building, leaving an imprint in the wall. He fired Ophion, which Dante proceeded to catch in his hand before pulling it with the strength of one hand, yanking DmC Dante toward him.

Kat: He's in trouble. I've gotta get him out of there.

Trish: How?

Kat had already placed a stencil on the ground and sprayed across it with a spray can.

Kat: Once this is ready, Dante can escape with this.

Trish: Let's hope he's wise enough to take it.

Kat nodded in agreement, though neither realized the Dante they were referring to was not one and the same.

Dante saw his DmC counterpart coming his way and prepared to skewer him with Rebellion when he felt gunshots strike him. He then span Rebellion rapidly, blocking any and all bullets coming his way as DmC Dante then dashed above him. He fired six more shots from another weapon, each of which Dante was more than prepared to avoid, but to his surprise, they all struck around him, not towards him.

Dante: You're finished, boy.

DmC Dante: Look again.

An explosion from all around him sent him upward and in that ensuing chaos, his Rebellion was knocked out of his hands. He was then cut twice by DmC Dante's Rebellion, then slashed thrice more, sending him further into the air. Ophion then grabbed him, pulling him back to DmC Dante, whom kicked him away toward the top of a building. DmC Dante then saw the gate that Kat had created for him, as well as his opponent's blade, which bounced off the ground. He pulled out the Kablooey and shot an explosive charge toward the Rebellion's handle. He detonated it, sending it straight into Dante at high speeds.

Dante was pinned into the building by his own weapon, his blood dripping from high above to the ground.

Kat: He did it.

Trish: He's okay?

Kat: Dante! Come this way.

DmC Dante: Coming.

As he walked calmly toward Kat's gate, he simply looked over at his fallen opponent.

DmC Dante: Guess you were out of your depth.

As his foot was about to touch the gate, he heard a strange sound, as well as a powerful presence behind him.

Kat: Get out of there, NOW!

He turned around, only to be met by a hand around his throat lifting him into the air. He looked over at this demonic being with red glowing eyes, two downward horns, and a body of insectoid and reptilian make: Dante took on the demonic appearance of his father, Sparda. As DmC Dante felt himself choking and tried breaking out of his grip, his classic counterpart pulled him closer and looked him in his eyes.

Dante: You're the one whose out of his depth, you emo fuck!

In a single bound, Dante brought the two high above the buildings. He tossed his DmC counterpart into the distance, then flew into him at high speed, forcing him straight towards a church.

Kat: They're headed for that church. Come on, hurry!

Trish took her word for it and the two ran to the church with all haste.

Inside the church in Limbo, DmC Dante made a hole in the ceiling and was then slammed into the floor, covering the room in debris. Dante simply floated upward and stood on the ground above the large crater he had created and saw his opponent bloodied, blood dripping from his forehead and from his mouth, not moving, but still grinning at him.

DmC Dante: So... it's fine when YOU talk like that.

He chuckled lightly to himself before coughing up more blood.

Dante: Stay down... or I'll put you down. Your call.

He could see his DmC counterpart was slowly trying to push himself off the ground with his hands.

Dante: Your loss.

He floated up into the air and readied his final attack. He saw his opponent gripping the red amulet around his neck, then saw what looked like red veins start to glow on his face.

Dante: Too little, too late.

From Dante's body, an aura of grey began to overtake the world. From DmC Dante's body, the world began to desaturate. The two mixed together, making it unknown which one had overtaken the other. He then saw his opponent floating off the ground, his jacket glowing red, his hair glowing white, and his eyes glowing red. Despite this...

He floated upward and shouted out in slow-motion. Quicksilver, a technique Dante hadn't used in some time, was successful. His foe couldn't hope to avoid any move he would unleash from there. Dante was ready to fly in and finish him...

Dante: Huh?

He realized that he was trapped in the air, barely able to move.

Dante: How is this possible?

Just then, DmC Dante's shout had concluded and his feet touched the ground once more: Quicksilver had expired. He jumped up to Dante and slashed as rapidly as he could with Rebellion. All Dante could do was take the hits without any hope of avoiding them: almost as if his opponent had used Quicksilver on him.

DmC Dante: A demon's got nothing on a Nephelim!

He punched Dante with enough force to send him flying out of the church, only for him to be yanked back in by Ophion. He then hopped off Dante's head to punch him back down to the ground. Just as Dante bounced and floated off the ground once more, he saw Dante charging up another punch. Just as DmC Dante began his descent...

His own Devil Trigger had expired. Dante's own Devil Trigger also ran out of juice, as the two reverted back to their original forms. He saw his opponent's downward strike and hopped out of the way. DmC Dante slammed into the ground with his fist all the same, then quickly pulled out Ebony and Ivory just as his opponent did.

The two stood eyeing each other for just a moment. Both were breathing heavily: Dante was still worn out by the onslaught unleashed earlier and while his Devil Trigger did heal him, DmC Dante still wasn't feeling at his best.

Dante: Nephelim, eh kid? Explains how you got me earlier.

DmC Dante: Still gonna drag this out by talking my ear off?

Dante: You have a point. Tell you what:

He dropped Ebony and Ivory on the ground.

Dante: No more talk...

He also dropped Rebellion on the ground.

Dante: And no more weapons.

DmC Dante didn't stop aiming at him despite the gesture.

DmC Dante: You think I'm stupid, pal?

He fired one shot each, and in that time, Dante had crossed the distance and punched him, knocking him into a pillar. Despite the speed he had just witnessed from him, DmC Dante saw his opponent taking his time walking to him. He got up on his feet and raised his fists.

DmC Dante: And no more holding back?

Dante simply nodded, then laid out his hand and waved his fingers in a martial artist "come on" fashion.

DmC Dante ran toward him and threw a punch. Dante swerved and threw one of his own. DmC Dante ducked and went for a leg trip. Dante jumped over it and aimed his next punch for the back of his opponent's head. Just then, DmC Dante turned and uppercut him in the chin while still receiving a punch to the face.

The two were throwing and blocking each other's punches, their kicks too. The two then caught one punch while striking each other in the side with the other.

DmC Dante rushed in, landing a punch to Dante's chest while Dante punched him across the face. DmC Dante gut punched him, then took another blow to his side, reeling. He struck Dante's face, then went on a punching frenzy on his chest before Dante finally caught both his hands. He headbutt DmC Dante, then punched him back several feet while also running behind him fast enough to keep pace and repeat the cycle. Finally, one kick knocked DmC right through the pillar.

He looked over at DmC Dante, who rolled across the ground before finally stopping on his back, his arms outstretched. As he lied there, DmC Dante saw his opponent grabbing his own Rebellion and charging towards him with all haste. Even with his dual demon-angel heritage, all his strengths, and all his abilities, he couldn't do anymore. He couldn't stand. He couldn't roll of the way. This was it. It was all over.

DmC Dante closed his eyes as he saw Rebellion coming right for him. Dante felt no resistance as he jammed his opponent's Rebellion straight through the ground.

K.O.

DmC Dante finally opened his eyes and saw that his weapon had been plunged into the ground next to him. He then saw Dante putting out his hand to help him up.

DmC Dante: You're... you're not going to kill me?

Dante: Don't have a reason to. Nothing for me to gain from that.

DmC Dante finally reached out to him. Dante began pulling him up...

When a massive knife went through Dante chest.

???: FOOL!!!

Dante was tossed aside as this massive creature, a hunter, looked over at his prey.

Hunter: If this one won't kill you, son of Sparda...

DmC Dante was on his knees and still in no condition to fight back and could only watch as this hunter was ready to skewer him on the spot.

Hunter: Then I will.

He thrust his knife forward...

Only for his knife to be shot out of his hand. He then turned and saw the red-coated man he had stabbed earlier flying lunging at him, his blade in hand. With just one swing, the hunter was decapitated.

Just as Dante grabbed hold of the demon's head, the battle damage done to the church in that reality faded away, as did any aura of Limbo.

Dante: So... we're out of Limbo because I killed him? Is that how it works?

DmC Dante: Yeah, that's about right.

After Dante put away the hunter's head, the two grabbed hold of each other's hands as Dante pulled his DmC counterpart to his feet.

Dante: Gotta tell you... between you and me, you're tough and you've got heart. You've still got a lot to learn, but I see a lot of potential in you.

DmC Dante: You came all this way for a demon, right? Well... you definitely got that one.

The two turned toward the church doors and saw Trish and Kat running in towards them.

Trish: There you are... and who the hell is that?

Kat: Dante!

Dante: Always happy to meet a fan of my...

He then saw that this woman had ran past him towards DmC Dante.

Dante: ...work.

Kat: Are you alright, Dante?

DmC Dante: Yeah, Kat, I'm fine.

Dante: Hold the phone... your name is Dante?

Trish: So that means both of you... are Dante?

Dante simply smirked.

Dante: Huh... small world.

Thank you very much for checking out this blog. And if you enjoyed it, then that’ll make me even more happy. Either way, I hope your day is epic.

Kratos has been one of my favorite video game characters, perhaps primarily due to God of War being one of the first M-rated games I had played through. As such, I was pretty excited to see him showing up in episode 10 of Death Battle...

And nearly 80 episodes later, I've wanted to see him return once again. Not because he was in a lopsided match-up (which, to be fair, was highly request at the time and had a decent theme), but because with how well the show has covered its characters since. And as far as returning characters go, there is even more that can be covered regarding the Ghost of Sparta.

And let me tell you, going over God of War once again... no small feat.

So with that, I hope you learn something new about Kratos, as well as what he could bring upon his return to Death Battle, should it happen (perhaps in time with his upcoming new title)...

Speaking of...

I haven't been keeping up with God of War (2018) and I really haven't a clue as to what it means for Kratos moving forward (such as whether he still possesses his strength or may have lost it). And even after it comes out, I will likely be quite a while before actually playing it.

Regardless, I will likely not make an update for the new feats, abilities, etc from the latest God of War, so consider this everything from Kratos' Greek-based adventures.

History

Dude on the left.

Born and raised in Sparta, Kratos and Deimos were raised by their mother Callisto, never knowing who their father was, but longing to become spartans themselves. Upon Deimos being abducted by an unknown assailant, Kratos had red tattoos based on his younger brother's birthmark etched onto his skin to honor his memory and soon rose through the ranks to become the youngest captain of the Spartan army. There, his tactics and cunning allowed for many victories, making him a legend.

Despite the happiness his wife Lysandra and his daughter Calliope brought him, his ambition and lust for power and glory would not be sated so easily. In one outing, Kratos saw himself and his men outnumbered and overpowered by a barbarian horde. In desperation, he called out to Ares and swore that if the God of War aided him in winning the battle that his life would be Ares'. The God of War came down and decimated the barbarian army whilst grafting burning hot chains to Kratos' arms, which housed the Blades of Chaos.

As a servant of Ares, Kratos attacked cities, sacked temples, and murdered innocents in the name of spreading chaos, becoming even more ruthless and slowly losing his humanity. Then came the day when one temple of people he had killed included his own wife and child. As punishment, an oracle cursed Kratos to forever wear the ashes of his family on his body so that all who saw Kratos would know of his monstrosity.

Realizing Ares' manipulation of him, Kratos broke his ties with the God of War and began serving the other gods in order to rid himself of the memories and nightmares of his worst deed. But even after saving the world from eternal slumber and even slaying Ares with the power of Pandora's Box, these would not subside. His anger towards Ares would soon become redirected onto the other gods upon realizing their manipulation of him and Zeus' betrayal and murder of him.

Who was once the unquestioning servant of the Gods of Olympus would soon become Olympus' own reckoning as he would go on to slay the very gods who defended Zeus before bringing an end to their corrupted reign along with placing the entire world in peril.

As for what comes after... we'll have to wait until April to find out.

Background

Aliases: Ghost of Sparta, Marked Warrior, Slayer of Gods

Age: approx. 50 (God of War III)

Height: 6’6 / (198 cm)

Weight: 240 lbs / (109 kg)

Son of Zeus & Callisto

Former Captain of Spartan Army

Demi-God Anti-Hero

Given a permanent scar over his right eye in youth

Tattoos based on younger brother Deimos' birthmark

Top-Tier in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Arsenal

Close Range

Blades of Exile

Png credit to NichtElf on Deviantart.

Based in design and function to his former Blades of Chaos and built from the remains of the Blades of Athena, these are his most mastered and preferred weapon. The blades extend from the chains attached to Kratos' wrists and emit fire upon contact. They are versatile enough to allow for many functions, such as pulling Kratos towards foes or pulling aerial foes to the ground, allowing for climbing by stabbing them into walls or ceilings, and can embed themselves into structures and grapple points to allow Kratos to swing across the environment.

Claws of Hades

Formerly wielded by the lord of the Underworld Hades, these hook blades can not only be swung, but occasionally appear to act without Kratos moving them, almost as if mentally commanded. They can also allow for Kratos to dodge via pulling himself forward.

Most of all, this weapon is especially devastating for its ability to steal the soul of enemies it hooks into.

Nemean Cestus

Once wielded by Hercules, these metal gauntlets increase Kratos' punching power drastically and can strike hard enough to break onyx, a material Kratos cannot break with his other weapons otherwise. The lion heads on the front of the gauntlets can actually be launched at foes for a mid-range attack and can also pull enemies toward Kratos.

Nemesis Whip

Made for Kratos by Hephaestus out of the Omphalos Stone, these chain blades slash and shock simultaneously. While it has weaker individual strikes than both the Blades of Exile and the claws of Hades, the Nemesis Whip is faster and prefers to dish out multiple hits in one sitting. They can also spin and whirl on their own to rapidly strike and keep foes in place.

Blade of Olympus

Created by Zeus to end the Great War with the titans long ago, this weapon may be the most powerful weapon in Kratos' arsenal. It was further enhanced when Kratos, as the new God of War, was tricked into placing his godly power into it. Now at its peak power, it makes Kratos a threat to mortals, gods, and titans alike.

Aside from powerful slashes, it can also fire off projectiles of godly energy.

Items

Poseidon’s Trident

Found within Pandora's Temple, this relic allows Kratos to swim underwater for an indefinite period of time without drowning.

After combining it with the Soul of Hades, it then allowed Kratos to swim through the River Styx without suffering any negative effects.

Golden Fleece

Kratos' sole piece of defensive equipment, the Golden Fleece enables him to block nearly any attack which strikes it. Upon impact with a physical attack, Kratos will strike back with his weapons. When struck by a projectile, it will stop before Kratos launches it back with a golden glow.

It has even been capable of deflecting strikes from the Blade of Olympus.

Icarus Wings

Taken from the back of Icarus, these allow Kratos to glide for long distances, as well as an enhanced jump. When underneath air vents, these can grant Kratos a semi-form of flight. However, overuse can result in too many feathers falling off, causing Kratos to fall to the ground.

Bow of Apollo

Obtained after he killed Peirithous, this bow has two modes of fire; the first being a rapid-fire mode that could fire arrows quickly and a charged shot that unleashed more powerful fire arrows.

Head of Helios

The literal head of Helios, Kratos used it to light up dark areas and reveal secrets, as well as for combat to blind or even burn enemies.

Boots of Hermes

Taken from Hermes, these gave Kratos the ability to move at faster speeds, surprise enemies by ramming them or leaving an exploding trail of fire, and run up certain walls. They also allowed for an aerial dash.

One thing I should emphasize: these don't give Kratos a permanent increase in speed at all times, but rather do so in short bursts and typically in one direction.

Magic

Army of Sparta

An ability granted to the Blades of Exile, Kratos can summon the souls of his Spartan comrades to form a phalanx around him. They attack via thrusting theirs spears forward and, upon leveling up, the attack also causes a volley of arrows to rain down around them.

Soul Summon

An ability once used by Hades, Kratos can use the Claws of Hades to summon the souls of standard enemies to fight alongside him for a brief duration. The enemies that can be summoned range from smaller fare like a trio of Olympus sentries and an archer to more powerful fare like a gorgan, chimera, cyclops, or centaur.

Nemean Roar

A shockwave-type attack generated by the Nemean Cestus via striking the ground.

Nemesis Rage

Via the Nemesis Whip, Kratos shocks surrounding enemies with a blast of electricity.

Rage Mode

Rage of Sparta

In this mode, Kratos' attack power, speed, and defenses increase, he doesn't react to attacks taken, and he wields the Blade of Olympus in hand. The colors in the area around Kratos become unsaturated, and Kratos' tattoos glow red and the Blade of Olympus glows blue.

While it can be used at any time with sufficient meter, it costs 1/8 of the meter upon activation.

For anyone reading this who is a God of War fan, you’ll notice that Kratos’ weapons, items, and magic consisted entirely of his arsenal from God of War III. The reason is that the majority of the series, especially the numerical entries, have legitimate reasoning for why his weaponry and magic didn’t always carry over to the next entry: primarily by either the gods taking back their stuff from Kratos (Chains of Olympus to 2) or having it drained from him (2 and 3).

As such, I think sticking to just the God of War III arsenal due to being the last and most recent arsenal given to Kratos was an entirely valid choice by Death Battle way back in episode 10 and would be best for Kratos’ return should it ever happen. Plus, even in regards to any new weapons, items, abilities, etc that the new God of War may grant him, these are still Kratos' most iconic and well-known, as well as Kratos in his prime.

With that said, for anyone who feels that other weapons should still be accounted for or that they could be utilized along with his God of War III arsenal, let’s give the benefit of the doubt and look at everything from Ascension to God of War II.

Close Range (Former Arsenal)

Blades of Chaos

Kratos' weapons throughout half of the series proper (Ascension to God of War 1), these were forged in the Underworld and given to Kratos by Ares himself. They more-or-less do everything I had already listed for the Blades of Exile sans the Army of Sparta.

These would be taken from Kratos by Ares towards the end of God of War 1.

Blades of Athena

After losing the Blades of Chaos, Athena granted Kratos this weapon, which functioned similarly to the blades he was most accustomed to.

They would be wielded for the entirety of the next two games, but would be greatly damaged by a fall to the Underworld from God of War III. The remains would then be used to create the Blades of Exile.

Gauntlet of Zeus

Forged by Hephaestus and used by Zeus to chain the titans in the depths of Tartarus, this gave Kratos increased punching power and could shatter durable materials the Blade of Chaos could not cut into.

Blade of Artemis

Once used by Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, to slay a titan, this blade allowed for more powerful swings than the Blades of Chaos.

Blade of the Gods

A weapon forged by the gods and hidden in Athens, disguised as a bridge, Kratos wielded it in his battle with Ares.

However, without the power of Pandora's Box or growing in size via his former god form, Kratos isn't wielding this weapon again any time soon.

Arms of Sparta

A standard coat of arms for Sparta, it gave Kratos far greater defensive capabilities and the spear could be used for close-range as well as thrown for long-range (so either he has unlimited spears or it's magical and returns to its wielder upon impact).

Barbarian Hammer

Wielded by the Barbarian King, in Kratos' hands, the Barbarian Hammer was fairly slow and did not allow him to dodge as per normal. To make up for that, it has incredibly powerful strikes and can summon cursed souls from the Underworld.

Spear of Destiny

Taken from a Dark Rider, this double-sided spear could generate explosive crystals upon impact and could extend for a surprise long range attack.

Items (Former Arsenal)

Amulet of Uroborus

Taken from Castor and Pollux, Kratos utilized this amulet to manipulate time to either decay a structure or rebuild a ruined one via reversing the structure's time. In combat, it could slow down standard enemies (as well as cause smaller ones to float), as well as partially slow larger enemies.

Oath Stone of Orkos

Given to Kratos by Orkos, this orange stone allowed Kratos to create a clone of himself that consisted of black tar-like energy with orange markings mirroring his tattoos. This was used to solve various puzzles where Kratos needed to be in two places at once, as well as in combat, where the clone sought out enemies to attack.

Eyes of Truth

Formerly the actual eyes of an oracle, this item could destroy magical barriers, illusions, and spells which had been generated by the Furies. In combat, Kratos could use it to immobilize some enemies.

However, it's unknown how this would fare against another foes' power of illusions, as it may exclusively dispell Fury-based illusions.

Sun Shield

The shield used by Helios, it gave Kratos the ability to parry and reflect attacks, as well as reflect projectiles after obtaining the Primordial Fire. It more-or-less has similar functions to the Golden Fleece, though it is assumed that the fleece is superior.

Triton’s Lance

Essentially a relic with the same ability as Poseidon's Trident, though only used in Chains of Olympus.

Amulet of the Fates

Found in the Temple of Lahkesis, this amulet gave Kratos the ability to slow down time and cover the world in a green hue while Kratos himself still moved at normal speed. This proved useful in solving puzzles with incredibly short time limits, as well as against enemies in combat.

As unstoppable as it makes Kratos sound while using it, the amulet works EXCLUSIVELY when nearby a Fates Statue, meaning that in a battle not taking place in the aforementioned temple, it's basically useless.

Magic (Former Arsenal)

Blades of Chaos Elemental Powers

In Ascension, Kratos gained the ability to augment his Blades of Chaos with the following four elements:

Fire of Ares

While essentially the same ability as the standard Blades of Chaos, Athena, and Exile, the flames were capable of incinerating with enough strikes.

Lightning of Zeus

This element gave the Blades of Chaos faster strikes, as well as the ability to electrocute foes.

Ice of Poseidon

This element allowed the Blades of Chaos to summon glaciers, as well as to freeze foes, who could then be shattered.

Soul of Hades

This element allowed the Blades of Chaos to summon monstrous arms, energy blasts, and souls from the Underworld.

As for why these elemental abilities were removed from the Blades of Chaos after their debut appearance... maybe after he broke his bond with Ares, the elemental abilities went away along with it. ...there's probably a better explanation out there.

Efreet

A fire spirit once utilized by the Persian King, Kratos wielded this power to summon the fire spirit to attack the area around Kratos with fiery strikes to the ground.

Fun fact: it was the first ability in Kratos' arsenal not based on Greek mythology, but rather Arabian mythology.

Light of Dawn

After obtaining the Primordial Fire, Kratos gained the ability to summon and hurl orbs of light. It can be fired rapidly or charged for a more powerful projectile.

Charon’s Wrath

A magic stored in Charon's mask, Kratos could blast clouds of green ravenous flames, which could strike multiple enemiess and unleashed continuous damage for the projectile's duration.

Poseidon’s Rage

Granted by Poseidon, this magic attack surrounds Kratos in lightning, electrocuting enemies around him. Most useful for when surrounded or overwhelmed by a large group.

Medusa’s Gaze

After killing the medusa, Aphrodite granted Kratos the ability to wield the Medusa's Head and utilize its ability to turn enemies into stone with its gaze. It could freeze an enemy over time, freeze them near-instantly with a more powerful move (costing more magic), or even create a shockwave that froze all nearby enemies (costing all of his magic).

Its only drawbacks are that larger enemies take longer to freeze (unless willing to sacrifice more magic) and that it cannot freeze gorgans.

Zeus’ Fury

Bestowed by Zeus, this allowed Kratos to summon bolts of lightning in his hand and throw them to strike faraway enemies. It could be upgraded to fire more rapidly, as well as for a charged shot.

Army of Hades

A power bestowed by Hades, the Army of Hades can be summoned to attack nearby enemies for a brief duration.

Eye of Atlantis

A relic of Atlantis, Kratos could utilize it to electrocute enemies. While it typically strikes an individual enemy, upon upgrading, its electrical bolts could create additional arcs that shocked nearby enemies.

Scourge of Erinys

Acquired after killing Erinys, Kratos could generate dark voids that drew in enemies while damaging them for the duration. Smaller enemies would be unable to attack altogether and could even be sucked into the void itself. This ability could also drain enemies of their life force, releasing it in the form of Green Orbs, allowing Kratos to heal.

Horn of Boreas

Found in the Shrine of Boreas, this horn could summon icy by swinging it, damaging and freezing nearby enemies. It could also freeze shields and armor.

Typhon’s Bane

Taken from Typhon's eye, this bow-esque weapon fired gusts of wind rather than arrows. These gusts could be rapid fired and charged up for a whirlwind, or even fire multiple homing blasts.

Cronos’ Rage

Granted to Kratos by the titan of the same name, he could summon orbs of lightning to electrocute and stun multiple enemies. Upon upgrading, these orbs could explode for additional damage and to knock enemies back.

Head of Euryale

After killing Euryale by slicing off her head, Kratos could utilize the head in the same manner as he had the Medusa Head. Unlike the Medusa Head, Euryale's gaze could freeze other Gorgan's.

Atlas Quake

Given to Kratos by Atlas, Kratos could slam the ground, causing earthquakes and sending boulders crashing downward onto enemies.

Divine Reckoning

A magic ability of the Blades of Athena utilized at the start of God of War III, this ability allows Kratos to create a massive tornado to damage nearby enemies via stabbing the Blade of Olympus into the ground.

Rage Mode (Former Arsenal)

Rage of the Gods

When using the Rage of the Gods, Kratos' attacks do far greater damage, he gained infinite magic (when leveled up to its maximum), and he can't be knocked back by attacks.

Unlike other Rage of abilities, the Rage of the Gods can only be activated when fully charged and upon activation, it cannot be deactivated and will remain active until completely drained.

Thera’s Bane

Not quite a super mode, as its used more commonly and charges up much faster, but nonetheless...

Having ripped the power from the titan Thera, when in use, it engulfs the Blades of Athena in more powerful flames, greatly increasing their power and able to implant cores into enemies that exploded shortly afterward. It could also damage and destroy shields and armor the Blades of Athena could not damage normally, and could destroy doors by stabbing into and super-heating them before an explosion tore it open.

When in his final confrontation with Thanatos, Kratos became so enraged that Thera's Bane could be used for an unlimited time in the battle itself. As it doesn't return after Ghost of Sparta, it could be that the overuse of them in that battle may have drained the blades of the ability.

Rage of the Titans

After being given the ashes of Prometheus, Kratos gained the ability to power up while surging his body with intense flames. His attack power was doubled, he became resistant to damage, and immune to knock back, as well as being immune to being turned to stone. Upon being given the flames that destroyed Sparta, the ability was boosted further, giving him triple damage and reducing damage taken to just one-fourth.

Consistently bests beings who are centuries older than him, and thus have far more experience.

Aided in defending the city of Attica from the Persian Army.

While serving the gods, he managed to stop Morpheus, Atlas, and Persephone's plot to destroy the world while the gods were put under a deep slumber.

He became the first person to successfully traverse through Pandora's Temple all the way to Pandora's Box, which had never been done before in the 2,500 years after it was constructed.

Has managed to escape from the Underworld on four occasions, twice after dying himself (though with some assistance).

While trapped in an illusion by Ares, he managed to defend clones of his family from an army of Kratos doppelgangers.

Through his battle with Scylla, he was partially responsible for the destruction of Atlantis.

Defeated Alrik the Barbarian King, who had managed to escape from the Underworld, whose weapon allowed him to summon souls, and who could grow to three times his size.

Through slaying the Olympian Gods, Kratos caused the world to fall into chaos.

Strength

Image from hakuxtemari on Deviantart.

Can push heavy objects and small statues across rooms without tiring, as well as boot them far distances with a kick.

Lifts up heavy doors on a regular basis.

Can tear undead legionaire enemies in half with his bare hands.

Toppled crumbling ancient structures just by pushing them.

Overpowered the bite of the Hydra (smaller heads) and was able to forcefully pull the larger Hydra head with his Blades of Chaos (slamming it to the side and downward into and through a ship's mast).

Overpowers minotaurs.

Snaps the backs of Sirens.

Can tear the heads off of gorgans.

When turned into stone by a gorgan stare, can break out of the stone before he can be shattered.

Blocked blows from the Scylla's tentacles and remained on his feet.

In his battle with Thanatos, could deflect Thanatos' projectiles with just the Blades of Athena alone.

Tipped over a statue several stories in Athens with his legs while pushing off of a pillar.

While underwater, he can dash forward with enough strength to break ruined stone doors and metal gates.

Stopped the Colossus of Rhodes from stepping on him before tipping it over (though it could be argued this could be attributed to his remaining godly power).

While standing on an elevator about to hit the ceiling, Kratos stopped it, then pushed the elevator he was standing on down several stories.

Lifted part of and tipped over a massive structure in the Bog of the Forgotten.

Broke two pieces Perseus' magical arsenal with brute force (smashed his helmet by stomping on it and shattered his sword with his bare hands).

While flinging himself forward while platforming, flew through a tall pillar

Stopped himself from being crushed by the fingers of a Titan on two occasions: by Atlas and Cronos (even assuming the Titans were toying with Kratos and could crush him at any time, it was basically like an ant stopping a human hand from squishing it).

Lifted and slammed a pillar down onto Zeus

Resisted and overpowered Hades' attempt to steal his soul (in the past, Hades had managed to steal Atlas' soul).

Lifted Hades off the ground after entangling the god with his own weapon, then proceeded to slam him repeatedly into the ceiling.

Tore off Helios' head with his bare hands.

In his duel with Hercules, overpowered him on a few occasions.

Durability/Stamina

Endured weaks of torture from the Furies.

Regularly goes non-stop on his adventures until his objective is accomplished, rarely stopping even after fighting hordes of enemies and lengthy duels with more powerful adversaries including gods.

Falls from heights that would typically kill normal humans only slightly phase Kratos.

Climbed the mountain that housed Pandora's Temple for 3 straight days, then went on to accomplish everything he had to without any sign of being hindered.

Gets knocked around by various massive creatures and gods, but keeps going.

Once took a repeated beating to his head from Deimos that broke the gauntlet his younger brother was punching him with and leaving Kratos bloodied, but in less than a minute, Kratos recovered ready to fight.

Survived the fall from Mount Olympus to the Underworld.

When being electrocuted by Hephaestus via the Nemesis Whip, shook it off long enough to turn the weapon against its maker.

Survived stabbing himself with the Blade of Olympus, releasing his power to the world.

Speed/Reflexes

Gif by from hakuxtemari on Deviantart.

Casually dodged arrows while listening to someone talk.

Can react to foes coming up from the ground and teleporters.

Could dodge Zeus' lightning attacks or even block and reflect them with proper timing (no idea if it's moving at the speed of fictional lightning or actual lightning, but it's there).

Could keep up with Zeus in combat, who some say could move faster than lightning (again, not sure if we're talking fictional or real lightning, but at the very least, he's pretty quick when he chooses to be. PS: also heard some saying Zeus' faster than light, but I doubt it).

Intelligence/Tactics

Had decades of experience as general of the Spartan army.

Has solved dozens of puzzles throughout his adventures, the minimum consequence of failing them meant his progress being halted, the maximum being death.

As many enemy types require the player to change their tactics and/or exploit a specific weakness, it's likely Kratos does the same in canon.

While Kratos preferring to overpower opponents may hold some truth, as players (especially on higher difficulty levels) typically try to play defensively by constantly evading or timing enemy attacks to parry them, Kratos likely takes a similar approach as preferring to over rely on his durability and tank hits really doesn't mesh with his character (in most instances).

Could track Perseus while he was invisible by listening in to and watching for his footsteps in water.

While fighting Hermes, could anticipate the god's movements in order to evade his attacks or strike him despite Hermes' far greater speed.

Faults

Unkillable?

Not even close.

As his death in Kratos VS Spawn showed, despite his strength and durability there's really nothing he could do to survive an impaling through the brain.

He's died twice in his series: once when Ares threw a pillar across the land, striking him with massive force and impaling him, and by Zeus after he tricked Kratos into draining himself of his godly power and then stabbing him in the abdomen with the newly empowered Blade of Olympus.

He isn't immune to stabbing, piercing, or blunt force: while his skin may be more durable than the standard human, that doesn't make him unable to be harmed by such sources.

He once lost a battle against the River Styx ferryman Charon, who defeated Kratos with a powerful energy wave, rendering him unconscious (though early on in his career).

In the past, has been tricked and manipulated, including Persephone tricking him into relinquishing his powers to be with his daughter again, and Zeus feigning aid while plotting to drain Kratos of his power and kill him.

The Golden Fleece can't stop everything: it was ultimately destroyed, along with most of Kratos' equipment, by Zeus' astral form, which was on an even greater plane of power.

Honestly, the whole "he has a temper and a one-track mind, and doesn't consider the consequences of his actions" thing isn't really much of a flaw in regards to a Death Battle. If anything, his ruthlessness would likely be more beneficial than anything else.

And yeah, I really wanted to dispel the misconception that Kratos is just a neanderthal that just lashes out blindly and hopes for the best. If he really were just that, I think he'd have died many times more and likely wouldn't have accomplished nearly half of his feats.

Okay, home stretch time...

Summary

Advantages

A decent assortment of weaponry and items from God of War III alone, even without including his former arsenal from the games before it.

The Golden Fleece will be difficult to get around and can turn many opponents' own projectiles against them.

The Claws of Hades could steal the souls of some foes upon wearing them down.

The Blade of Olympus is already powerful enough to cut into Titans, so it'll prove quite useful against most adversaries

His strength can match or even overpower some enemies.

He can keep out of an opponent's range with the Icarus Wings, Boots of Hermes, and by swinging with the Blades of Exile.

He'll take hits and keep on fighting for as long as it takes.

He won't hesitate to go for a brutal kill.

Disadvantages

An opponent with capabilities akin to Zeus' astral form could destroy the Golden Fleece, as well as most of his arsenal.

Foes that can resist and overpower the Claws of Hades' soul steal like Kratos will make the weapon somewhat of a liability.

While he's stopped himself from being crushed by Titans, adversaries with similar or superior strength won't hesitate to crush him on the spot (unless their personality includes toying with their prey).

Enemies with greater agility could knock him out of the sky.

Faster opponents could get through Kratos' defenses or around the Golden Fleece.

An opponent whose weakness is incredibly specific and/or extremely difficult to figure out may have Kratos stumped in regards to killing them.

A battle between the two great Spartans of gaming. It's always been a curious case how Kratos would fare against futuristic weaponry, let alone modern firearms. Actually hard to say who has this one, but this could make a great rival fight.

Link (Legend of Zelda)

Going on adventures, gathering a large and diverse arsenal over multiple titles, and taking on various monsters and all-powerful boss-type foes. Okay, so perhaps not the deepest connection ever, though it would neat to see how a swordsman of Link's caliber would fare against someone like Kratos.

Guts (Berserk)

Their franchises absolutely cemented themselves in culture via their brutality, their dark and perilous worlds, and two grizzled protagonists who have been through it all and who will so much as cut you down if you get in their way. I've heard match-ups for Kratos with less connections. And come on, Kratos VS Berserker Armor! That would be a bloodbath of sheer viciousness.

War (Darksiders)

Kratos became the God of War, War is... well, war. Both were played like fools by their superiors and made to pay, and they both leave destruction in their wake. ...I don't really have anything else to add to that.

Feel free to throw around ideas for opponents for Kratos and I may include them later on.

Next time…

Rather surprised it took me this long to even consider it… but yeah…

Next time’s Inuyasha!

Thank you very much for checking out this blog. And if you enjoyed it, then that’ll make me even more happy. Either way, I hope your day is epic.

You ever have that character you like, but whom everyone else treats like trash? Or where a character is nowhere near the worst, yet they are constantly written off as such?

It's so strange going from watching the original series, where Yamcha was one of the primary contributors of the gang, to Z and seeing just how quickly opinion suddenly turned on him, most of which is due to those who didn't even watch the original series. It's downright annoying having his lowest moments considered all there is to this character when they really aren't. It's beyond aggravating when Yamcha is used as a synonym for weak and useless and when other characters are referred to as a "Yamcha" as a means to demean them.

I could go on with just how much I despise the movement to make Yamcha seem undeserving of being valued or even liked just because he, like a lot of the original characters of Dragon Ball became absolutely outclassed by those around them. That doesn't make him a bad character! That's not supposed to be what you take away from him! *rambles on for an eternity*

Focus, me! This is a Death Battle analysis, not a ranting defense blog!

Okay, back on track: analysis of Yamcha.

Firstly, I will be covering everything Yamcha from the original Dragon Ball series to Z, as I haven't had the fortune of keeping up with Super (though I will mention a Yamcha-centric episode). This will not include Dragon Ball Side Story: The Case of Being Reincarnated as Yamcha, as that was a fan of Dragon Ball and not the actual canon Yamcha.

Next, I will be including feats Yamcha has achieved exclusively in the anime. For me, it's fair game as they give side characters like Yamcha more things to do rather than going completely against the original source material like Raditz "moving faster than light". Granted, I will clarify my thoughts on a particularly controversial anime-exclusive feat (you may already have a good idea which one).

Lastly, while I will include moves he's only utilized in video games, I will not be including Yamcha's Supervillain form from Xenoverse 2.

Here's why:

It would be outside help, as Yamcha cannot attain this form on his own: only by Towa's machinations.

It's power would be incredibly difficult to measure, let alone speculate on, as the only hint given is a statement from Gohan stating that one hit from this version of Yamcha could knock him or his companions (Tien, Piccolo) out cold.

The entire concept of the parallel quest in which this form originated is essentially a gag, which can be found just by reading the description for the mission: "Sensing a powerful ki, the fighters assemble! The powerful foe they seek is none other than.... Yamcha...?!"

And if you're looking for strength, speed, and durability calculations... I'm not the guy.

Now with all that out of the way, let's take a look at Yamcha.

History

Born in Age 733, nothing is known of Yamcha's birthplace or childhood. What we do know is that by the age of 16, he was a notorious and feared bandit who robbed any who passed through his home, Diablo Desert. His only companion was the shape shifting cat Puar until the day he came across Goku and company.

He fought and was beginning to best Goku, who was hungry at the time, only being stopped after being frightened away by the very sight of Bulma due to his timidness around women. Upon spying on Goku and company and learning about the Dragon Balls, he planned to steal them and take the wish for himself.

His wish?

The result being that he could finally ask a girl out on a date.

So after another bout with Goku ended with one of his teeth being chipped, he then attempted to gain Goku and company's trust by appearing to aid them on their journey. Instead of carrying through on his plot to steal the Dragon Balls from them as intended, he instead ended up saving the gang from Great Ape Goku, conquering his phobia of women during this, helping to bring Goku back to normal, and through his actions becoming a valued friend and ally.

Yamcha's been alongside Goku throughout most of his early adventures, including the Tenkaichi Budokai tournaments. While eventually outclassed by the Saiyan and even his fellow allies, Yamcha is still one of the most powerful human martial artists on Earth and is always prepared to help whenever he can.

Former Arsenal

Weapons

Azure Dragon Sword

It is a scimitar/Chinese broadsword that he had on his person when he first came across Goku. It was shown to be durable enough to block a blow from the Power Pole.

But after being released from Yamcha's hands after he took a hit from the Power Pole, the sword is never retrieved.

Machine Gun

A machine gun. He had it on him, but preferred to fight Goku up close anyway.

Not much more to be said.

Panzerfaust Rocket Launcher

Once used to knock over Goku and company's House-Wagon.

Vehicles

Jet Squirrel Flying Jet Scooter

He appeared before Goku and company riding this, as well as utilized it to flee after seeing Bulma.

Mighty Mouse Buggy

He sat in this ground-based car before facing Goku a second time. It's his favorite vehicle.

Silverstar 4 Hovercar

A hover car that Yamcha drove while tailing Goku and company.

However, in the case of all these weapons and vehicles, they would become obsolete later in the series.

Fighting Style

Due to his unknown origins aside from his time as a bandit, nothing is known regarding where he may have learned his fighting skills and techniques from. As such, Yamcha may have been self-taught, which, considering just how skilled he was in combat already, speaks volumes for his technique.

It'd be a safe bet to say that he takes on a mostly aggressive and offensive approach, preferring to rush in and get in the first strike. However, he's also been shown to be able to switch quickly to blocking or dodging attacks when needed.

While effective, Jackie Chun (Master Roshi) did have this to say about Yamcha's fighting style:

"Your fighting moves are big and fun to look at, but I'm afraid most of them are just a waste of energy."

Granted, this was Roshi describing Yamcha's self-taught style, which would undoubtably change once Roshi trained him. Aside from Roshi, Yamcha would go on to be taught by nearly all of the other same masters as Goku, further enhancing his martial art skills.

Ki Techniques

Flight

Yamcha can utilize ki for short and long distance flight. He's still shown to be proficient with this ability even in Super. He can travel for some time with this technique, even while carrying a person.

Ki Sense

During his training on Kami's Lookout, he, like the other human Z-Warriors, learned how to sense the location and power of most life forms, with the exception of Androids and godly beings.

Afterimage Technique

Like Ki Sense, he learned this during his time on Kami's Lookout. This allows Yamcha to move fast enough to leave behind an afterimage of himself, perfect for distracting an untrained enemy.

Now let's move on to the more offensive ki attacks, starting with his close-range moves.

Wolf Fang Fist

Yamcha's first and easily most famous technique. After shouting "Wolf Fang Fist!" and then charging at an opponent, or even shouting it in the middle of charging, he unleashes a barrage of punches and/or claw strikes before concluding with a double-palm strike to knock an opponent backward.

This is done by empowering his blows with ki, as well as through the use of a wolf totem. This causes a wolf's howl to accompany his attack and, in some case, makes Yamcha appear to take on the form of a wolf.

Sometimes in flashes, other times entirely.

Fun fact: it was the first ki technique shown in all of Dragon Ball, as well as the first melee-based ki technique.

And of course, it has multiple variations.

Wolf Slice Fist

Yamcha kicks the opponent into the air before kicking and punching them back downward.

Tiger Jackhammer

Another shorter version where Yamcha unleashes a series of punches before kicking the opponent away.

Wolf Hurricane

A variation in which Yamcha begins by jump-kicking the opponent, then unleashing a punch, jumping backward, unleashing a kick, and then concluding with a claw strike.

Blinding Wolf Fang Fist

Considered an upgraded version, Yamcha kicks away an opponent before charging his energy and charging at the opponent. After unleashing a successful palm strike, Yamcha flies past the opponent, the opponent falls to the ground and Yamcha will turn back towards them and grin.

Neo Wolf Fang Fist

The max potential of the Wolf Fang Fist technique offers the best damage out of all of them. In Xenoverse 2, it can be unleashed continuously for as long as the player desires or until they run out of ki.

Wolf Fang Blast

A variation of the Wolf Fang Fist that incorporates ki blasts. Yamcha knocks the opponent into the air, then back down again, and proceeds to unleash a volley of ki blasts before finishing with a large ball of ki.

Ki Blast Thrust

A unique ki technique in which Yamcha envelops his entire fist in ki, then flies forward for a ki-enhanced punch. It is capable of cancelling out weaker ki blasts while Yamcha is attacking with it.

Now onto his long-range firepower.

Ki Blasts

Yamcha can manipulate ki for the basic ki blast (or ki bullet), which can be rapid-fired or charged.

To go over just a few specifics:

Consecutive Energy Blast/Full Power Energy Blast Volley

Both essentially have Yamcha firing off a flurry of ki blasts at once. However, the ki blasts more-so spread than lock-on entirely.

Energy Wave Combo

Yamcha charges ki in his hand before firing off up to six charged ki blasts.

The basic ki blasts tend to be one of the weaker ki techniques overall (in Dragon Ball in general, not just in Yamcha's case). That's where he can bust out far superior long range ki techniques.

Kamehameha

The trademark technique of Master Roshi and his Turtle School. Yamcha first utilized this against Tien in one of the Tenkaichi Budokai tournaments. To perform, Yamcha cups his hands together to draw ki in between, then thrusts his hands forward to unleash the beam of ki. It tends to take some time to fire.

Super Kamehameha

A more powerful variation of the Kamehameha that Yamcha has access to. The main difference being the use of a much larger amount of ki, in turn leading to much more power behind it, as well as a slightly longer charging time.

Full Power Energy Wave

Essentially a less-powerful, but faster-firing Kamehameha fired from one hand. It's shared between a majority of characters in Xenoverse 2.

Spirit Ball

Yamcha's most iconic projectile attack and, like the Wolf Fang Fist, a move of his own creation.

He begins the attack by generating ki within one open hand, eventually forming it into a sphere. Once the Spirit Ball is fully formed, he can then control and guide its movements via his middle and index fingers pointing in the desired direction.

This can make it difficult for some foes as its movements can be unpredictable and random.

The Spirit Ball is capable of tunneling underground and can be called back upward for a surprise attack from underneath. Yamcha can also trigger it to explode whenever he chooses, as it will otherwise remain even after slamming through various obstacles or potentially opponents.

Super Spirit Ball

A more powerful variant sometimes called "The Extra Large Spirit Ball". It requires him to hold onto the hand forming it to create and control it.

It can form to be as large as Yamcha's own body.

Aside from packing much more explosive force than the standard Spirit Ball, it can also be converted into a beam of sorts.

Additional Techniques

Fake Death

Yes, this is a real technique.

Yamcha takes on his death pose to trick his opponent into believing that he's been struck or even defeated. If his opponent is close enough to him, he can then quickly get back up with a surprise kick attack with both feet.

Power up to the Very Limit

An ability Yamcha has in the Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast games. In the former, it recharges Yamcha's ki and increases his stats. In the latter, he does not regain his ki, but empowers his melee attacks, defense, and super attacks.

Kaio-Ken

First shown ever being used by Yamcha in Xenoverse 1, he can use the Kaio-Ken to double his base speed, strength, and other stats. Of course, the technique can take a toll on its user's body and in-game, Yamcha can only access the basic unmultiplied version.

Interestingly enough, the Kaio-Ken would not return in Yamcha's arsenal in Xenoverse 2.

Wolf Fang Pitching Fist

And yes, this is also a real technique.

During his retirement from martial arts, he developed a move for pitching in baseball. It is essentially a combination of both the Wolf Fang Fist's speed and the Spirit Ball's controlability. The Wolf Fang Pitching Fist is so effective that it can strike out even opponents who physically outclass Yamcha himself.

So where does it fit into a Death Battle-type scenario? I suppose in theory, he could perform the same with just about any small item that is thrown, preferably one the size and/or shape of a baseball. Probably wouldn't factor, but just figured I'd at least mention it.

Funny thing is Yamcha considers it his greatest technique.

Feats

A weakling that never does anything?

Not even close.

Struck Goku with enough force to send him through three ancient pillars.

Casually punched, chopped, and kicked through stone pillars

Had a piece of a horizontal pillar fall on him, then lifted it off of him.

Saved Bulma, Oolong, and Puar from Great Ape Goku.

Able to forge a sword just by chopping a stone wall of a castle.

Pulled on Great Ape Goku's tail along with Puar and Oolong, immobilizing GA Goku just long enough until Puar could cut it off.

Made it to the quarter-final match of three consecutive Tenkaichi Budokai Tournaments.

Defeated See-Through the Invisible Man.

Now you may be tempted to say "But that was only because of help", recall that Yamcha struggled to locate him until he realized that he could find him by hearing his movements.

"Talk to me with your movements. I'm all ears."

Once he did this, Yamcha finally managed to land blows on See-Through and basically had the match won. Then Fortuneteller Baba began singing, causing Yamcha to lose that advantage. It was because of Baba's outside help that forced Krillin to help Yamcha.

So basically both outside helps cancel out. Without any intervention from either party, Yamcha had that one.

Despite an injured leg, survived a run-in with Tambourine just long enough for Tambourine to be called off.

Dodged machine gun fire at a close distance with his leg still injured.

Dodged a rocket accidentally fired by Launch from a short distance.

http://dragonballcomplete.com/dragon-ball-episode-122 (7:00)

As shown, he was arguing with Bulma, heard the rocket, turned and reacted fast enough to jump away from it. And Launch wasn't at a far distance from him.

Interestingly enough, Bulma avoided the rocket as well. Guess that means both can dodge rockets. Now could it just be chalked up as just a comical feat? Perhaps.

Managed to land a single blow on Hero (Kami) with the Spirit Ball.

Regularly spars with the other Z Fighters

While nowhere close to being either of their equals, it does show that Yamcha still isn't much of a slacker when it comes to martial arts. You could make the case that he does so well against them due to being familiar with their techniques and training alongside them. Yeah, fair point.

Defeated a Saibaman (yes, he did).

Alongside Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo, made it across Snake Way to King Kai's planet at a faster speed than Goku had.

Managed to harm Piccolo (post-Saiyan Saga, pre-Nail fusion) with a single punch during a spar on King Kai's planet.

Defeated Recoome thanks to his training on King Kai's planet.

Has enough upper body strength to more-or-less shatter a weight lifting workout machine in its entirety.

Survived a full minute in 300 times Earth gravity.

This is perhaps the one time I may attempt to calculate something:

So under Earth's gravity, Yamcha weighs in at around 150 pounds. Under 300 times Earth gravity, multiplying 150 by 300 would give us... 45,000 pounds. As there are 2,000 pounds in a ton, that means Yamcha weighted in at 22.5 tons.

That's two and a half times the weight of an elephant and three times the weight of a t-rex.

Survived being impaled through the chest and having his energy absorbed by Dr. Gero

Considering smaller beam attacks have killed plenty of characters before, the fact that Yamcha took a hand through his chest and was still alive afterward actually speaks volumes for his durability (or will power, I suppose).

During a spar with Krillin on Grand Kai's, Yamcha and Krillin crashed through a tower three times and then slammed into the bottom of it, causing the tower to begin tipping over.

Defeated two Other World fighters in a spar on Grand Kai's planet with ease.

This is the big controversial anime-exclusive feat that is either gets the "doesn't count, anime-only" stamp or is seen as "Yamcha beat Olibu, who matched Pikkon, who matched Goku, so Yamcha scales to Perfect Cell". To that, I offer a third interpretation:

I think it was essentially the artists just drawing up two people for Yamcha to fight and due to time constraints, they basically drew Olibu... and as such, it was never intended to be "Yamcha defeats Olibu" in the first place.

What is taken away from it? It showcases that Yamcha's martial arts skills are most definitely capable of holding his own against otherworldly fighters.

Destroyed a collapsing building top with the Spirit Ball.

Good luck calculating that. It's out of my jurisdiction.

But then he not only did that with just a single touch of the Spirit Ball, but also moved it fast enough to destroy the remaining large debris. The entire sequence as a whole speaks volumes for the total destructive power of the Spirit Ball, how much it can take during its use, and Yamcha's utter control over it. Also consider that it was a showcase of the destructive capabilities of the standard Spirit Ball, not its Super form, which in theory could be even more powerful.

The least that can be said is daaaaaaang.

And now for the only Super feat for Yamcha that I am aware of, he managed to continue playing in his baseball game between Universes 6 and 7 even after the following:

Being struck by a pitch by Vegeta

Being elbowed by Vegeta and kneed by Champa

Being struck by a thrown ball from Champa

And most absurdly of all, when Beerus and Champa began battling and unleashing destructive volleys of godly ki onto the field, Yamcha actually managed to make it to the home plate from 3rd base, with him in near-death and fainting as a result.

But yeah, that Super episode as a whole can be chalked up to purely comedic, so it probably doesn't count.

Everything from Dragon Ball to Z still stands, though, proving that Yamcha is far from a useless and weak character. Granted, if we looked at his ups, it's only fair to look at his downs as well.

Faults

To put an end to the misconception, yes, Yamcha was killed by a Saibaman's self-destruct...

NO, Yamcha was not weaker than a Saibaman. As stated in Feats, he defeated the one he faced, quite soundly. What happened was that Yamcha let down his guard by turning his back on the Saibaman after it appeared to be dead, allowing it to sneak up and grab onto him for the self-destruct, leading to his death.

And if you're still thinking "How weak of him to die to the self-destruct", how do we even know if Krillin, Tien, and the rest could have survived a Saibaman's self destruct at all? We don't know and it was thanks to Yamcha's death that the remainder kept their guard up so as not to suffer the same fate in the first place.

Honestly, Yamcha's death was just plain plot-induced, a way to show that "if he died, anyone could be next", and as such should stop being used in arguments for him being weak and completely pathetic because as I've hopefully established, he really isn't.

But the real take away from all of this?

Yamcha can be overconfident and prideful to a fault, which can sometimes backfire.

He has been defeated in battle by...

Jackie Chun (Master Roshi)

Bandages the Mummy

Tien

Hero (Kami)

And Cell Jr.'s

Which isn't counting the movies, where he lost to:

Bora

Cacao

And Zangya

But they really don't amount to much. The loss to Bora was due to Master Roshi distracting him and as for the other two, they were cases where the standard Z Fighters couldn't defeat the minions and Goku (in the former) and Gohan (in the latter) had to defeat all of them themselves.

His training became inconsistent after his time on King Kai's planet. Frankly, he's retired and come out of retirement more times than Rocky Balboa.

He has since been far surpassed by Goku, as well as passed by most of his human allies, making him one of the weaker Z Fighters. So much so that during the Z-Fighters' battle against Frieza's army, he and Chiaotzu were left out of the fighting for their own safety.

His survival is often dependent on allies. While surviving Gero impaling him was impressive, he would have surely been killed and/or bled out were it not for the intervention of Goku and friends.

Limited amount of ki. Not big surprise.

Summary

Advantages

Has had many years of martial arts training and experience under his belt

Can strike hard from close-range or afar with his ki techniques

While aggressive, he can block and avoid attacks when needed

Being able to avoid machine gun fire and rockets definitely provides him a swift reaction speed compared to the average human

Can keep his opponents on their toes with the unpredictable movements of his Spirit Ball

More than durable enough to take on big hits and keep fighting for some time

Can definitely use his supposed weakness to his advantage to catch an opponent who underestimates him off-guard

Disadvantages

While self-trained and learning under some of Dragon Ball's masters, he may be outclassed by someone who has undergone superior training or survival experiences

Durable, but can be seriously harmed by those above his league

His aggressive style could play into more defensive or calmer adversary's hands

Fast, but may not be able to keep up with a foe who outclasses him in speed even with his Ki Sense

May get cocky in the heat of battle and lower his guard if he's not careful

Powerful, but only has a finite amount of ki to draw from

Possible Opponent

Kazuma Kuwabara (Yu Yu Hakusho)

I struggled for the longest time to find a good opponent for Yamcha, as a vast majority was just "Battle of the weaklings, lol". That's when someone brought up Kazuma Kuwabara, who constantly gets thrown into the same predicament as Yamcha, being a powerful character written off as weak due to how outclassed he is by his fellow allies. For me, the theme fits perfectly between the two and a Dragon Ball VS Yu Yu Hakusho match-up sounds intriguing.

And for any abridged fans reading this... tell me you wouldn't want to hear their abridged series voicing them in a Death Battle.

So remember when I said I was going to do a series that wasn't about Death Battle? This...

...is not that series. That one'll be coming along pretty soon, but for now, something I actually pondered for some time. I call it...

Which One First?

Or W.O.F. for short.

What does it mean?

Well with the absurd amount of requests that Ben and Chad get for Death Battle on a regular basis, there tends to be characters who are fit for more than just one. Some actually work into a ton...

For the purposes of this series, I'm looking at characters who have, from my point of view, two popular match-ups that are competing with each other to see who ends up in Death Battle first.

Now obviously, as Leonardo, Batman, Shadow, Deadpool, etc. have proven, a character's first appearance on Death Battle doesn't have to be their last. In fact, the two match-ups suggested may work so well that the other may very well have the chance of happening later on. But then we're left to wonder...

Which one first? See what I did there? Yeah, it wasn't that clever when I thought of it in my head either, but you get the picture.

So here's how it'll work:

Step 1: I'll offer the name of a character and two match-ups the character is caught in between, both quite popular and vying to occur on Death Battle first.

Step 2: Should you want to participate, you let me know in the comment, then private message me your argument for why one opponent has precedence over the other in your opinion.

Step 3: After gathering these arguments, I'll post a blog regarding the character in question and post all of the arguments regarding their opponents on hand.

Let me assure you that the point isn't to tally up which opponent has the most support, crowning them the winner and dubbing them the most worthy and the loser unworthy. It's just for fun, kind of a thought exercise, and so that we can see everyone's viewpoints and where they're coming from.

Now just to offer a sampling of some potential characters and their two opponents...

These are just a few I have in mind and I'm open to suggestions for future blogs, but now onto what will be our debut discussion:

Red Hood (DC Comics)

Two of the most popular potential candidates for the most ruthless member of the Bat Family just so happen to come from the same rival publisher:

The Punisher (Marvel Comics)

Winter Soldier (Marvel Comics)

So let's kick this series off with a good ol' Marvel VS DC crossover:

Punisher VS Red Hood

VERSUS

Winter Soldier VS Red Hood

WHICH ONE FIRST?

You tell me.

It'll be about a week to three weeks before the debut, depending on how many want to sign up for this.

Not too much in the way of rules. Just be considerate of the opposing viewpoint and if you take issue with the other match-up, don't be a jerk about it. Other than that, let's hear (or rather, read) your thoughts.

In any case, thanks for reading and hope to read from you soon. Hope your day is awesome.

DEATH BATTLE!

Deep in a forest in Feudal Japan, a circular mass of dark energy emerges, partially sunken into the ground. A hulking demon with a club in its hand noticed a circle of some kind and slowly approached it due to its mass. Soon, the orb of dark energy dissipated, revealing Vergil, the eldest son of Sparda, crouching in a mini crater. The demon watched as the teal coat-wearing individual slowly began to stand with a sheathed "katana" on his person. Believing that this foreign half-demon was unaware of his prescense, he lifted his club into the air with both hands, then swung it down onto the half-breed's head...

Only to see that his club had only struck the ground, with Vergil out of his sight. He lifted up his club, disappointed, then turned his head to see Vergil standing behind him, Yamato in hand. As the demon prepared to turn around, he saw his club cut in two. He saw the man slowly placing his sword back into his sheathe, and prepared to charge at him...

...when he saw his right wrist separate from his arm, falling to the ground with the club in hand. As Yamato's handle came closer to touching the sheathe, the demon fell to its knees, feeling a great pain in its chest and looking over at the blade in horror. Vergil finally decided he was done with the supposedly fearsome demon of lore and finally...

CLICK!

Yamato was finally sheathed. The demon's face froze as its blood spewed across its chest, revealing a straight and perfect cut from below its right underarm to its neck. The demon's head slid off his body along with what was left of his right arm.

Vergil: How boring.

He didn't even bother to look at the demon's corpse and walked onward in search of a worthy opponent.

In a valley surrounded by bamboo trees, the small imp Jaken, the young girl Rin, and the two-headed beast A-Un traveled on foot right behind the eldest son of the Inu no Taisho, Sesshōmaru. Jaken was beginning to tire.

...until he catches a glimpse of a coated man with a sheathed blade in hand approaching on foot in the distance. Jaken couldn't hide his fear of the dread dripping from the unknown swordsman who simply walked forward at a relaxed pace.

Jaken *thoughts*: *panicking* Gah! Who is that?!

Jaken jumps in front of Rin with Nintojo, attempting to hide the fear on his face and ready to assist.

Jaken: You heard him, Rin! Get going! Lord Sesshōmaru and I will take care of this!

Sesshōmaru took Nintojo from Jaken's hands, then lifted and placed both him and Rin onto A-Un.

The two stand in place, staring each other down and waiting for one of them to make the first move.

FIGHT!

Sesshōmaru lunges forward, his hand and claw outstretched as Vergil grins. The demon's claws strike the ground hard, sending dirt flying upward and leaving a crater behind. In the instant he saw that he had missed, Sesshōmaru caught just a hint of Vergil's scent from right behind him. Vergil drew Yamato with such speed that one blinking would have entirely missed it, only to see Sesshōmaru leap upward. He then forced himself back to the ground, this time slashing with both claws. A far larger amount of dirt than before was launched away as Sesshōmaru stood in a small crater. Once more, Vergil has avoided it by teleporting and was now staring down the Inu no Taishu's son.

Vergil: So slow.

As the Son of Sparda had hoped, his opponent did not take kindly to his taunt and came running towards him. Sesshōmaru saw Vergil preparing to draw Yamato, but saw that he never drew it. He continued onward...

...but something was off.

Sesshōmaru *thoughts*: Wait... that scent...

He couldn't quite pin his nose on what it was or its precise location, but it was near him. In an instant, he heard something in the corner of his ear... like something was cutting through the dimensions of his very world. A flicker of white flashed by Sesshōmaru and he was sent rolling to the ground, a wound on his left side. He didn't even bother to tend to it and instead looked over at the half-demon who had struck him. He saw Vergil going through the same motions as before.

Vergil: How disappointing.

This time, when the odd scent reached him, he knew what it was and what to do. The Judgement Cut left a large slash mark in the ground and when the dirt settled, Vergil saw Sesshōmaru floating in midair. Vergil was undettered and sent off another Judgement Cut. Sesshōmaru flew to the side, then began moving forward quickly to Vergil. He swerved downward to avoid another Judgement Cut, then before Vergil could unleash one more, Sesshōmaru's claw neared him. Vergil drew Yamato and slashed, but Sesshōmaru zoomed past him and avoided it. Just as Vergil was about to sheathe his blade, he felt a cut on his right side. He turned toward Sesshōmaru, noting his two sheathed swords.

Vergil: You have weapons, yet you scratch at me with your claws.

As Vergil was speaking, Sesshōmaru ran to him and went for a slash with one hand...

Vergil: Tell me...

...which Vergil stopped with Yamato's sheathe.

Vergil: Why do you hesitate to draw your blades?

The Son of Sparda saw Sesshōmaru's free hand ready to strike and pushed with Yamato's sheathe, allowing Vergil enough breathing room to teleport before the next claw strike could reach his head. Vergil reemerged a short distance behind him and seized the opportunity by running forward with Yamato drawn and swung...

...when Sesshōmaru stopped it with Tenseiga. He pushed Vergil back with great force, whom vanished into the bamboo forest. Sesshōmaru leapt upward over the forest, standing atop one of the trees to find Vergil.

Sesshōmaru *thoughts*: He's close...

He turned and saw Vergil seemingly floating in mid-air unleashing a flurry of slashes at once. Vergil saw pieces of the tree scattering around him, then realized he had lost sight of his opponent when he looked down and saw Sesshōmaru flying upward from below him. He blocked with his sheathe as Sesshōmaru slammed into him, knocking him upward over the forest. The Inu no Taisho's son flew upward quickly to capitalize on this with his claws when he saw Vergil began to recover and swung Yamato at him. Sesshōmaru clashed with Tenseiga, then the two rapidly slash at one another. Their blades counter blow-for-blow, but Vergil sees something odd with Sesshōmaru's technique: he's stopping Yamato's attacks rather than attempting to attack with Tenseiga.

Vergil: Either strike me down...

Sesshōmaru saw Tenseiga knocked out of his hand into the forest below by a two-handed swing from Yamato. Before he could act, Yamato was a blur.

Vergil: Or fall!

Despite attempting to back away, another two-handed swing struck Sesshōmaru's chest, slicing his lower armor into two, spewing some blood from the wound, and forcing him downward. He saw himself about to crash head-first into the ground when he managed to regain control and swerved to avoid it. He flew across the forest, inches from touching the ground, spotting Tenseiga on the ground. He approaches it when he hears a twig breaking followed by an all too familiar smell...

He takes flight, avoiding a Judgement Cut that slices through nearby bamboo trees like a knife through butter, and Vergil is caught off-guard by Sesshōmaru's sudden approach. A slash from Sesshōmaru's claw cuts his chest and knocks him through three bamboo trees before using Yamato's sheathe to anchor himself back to the ground. He sees Sesshōmaru approaching once more, having retrieved Tenseiga, and the two ready their blades. Rapid slashes of Yamato cut down the bamboo behind Sesshōmaru, but Vergil once again notes that Tenseiga was doing no damage to the bamboo behind him: it was all Sesshōmaru's claws. All Sesshōmaru had done with Tenseiga, one of his two blades, was use it as a purely defensive side arm, which puzzled him.

Vergil: I'm done.

With a swift upward swing, Tenseiga was launched from Sesshōmaru's hands once more, this time flying upward into the air. Before Sesshōmaru could even think of pursuing his father's blade, he saw Vergil zooming forward with his blade drawn. Sesshōmaru sidestepped it and turned to pounce on his silver-haired foe when he caught the odd scent...

...in abundance all around him. White flashes emerged all around him and while he attempted to avoid all of the slashes as best he could, the straight path of Judgement Cuts struck him from the front, back, and sides. Vergil saw Sesshōmaru stumble from the wounds and charged with Yamato in hand. Even in his current condition, Sesshōmaru closely watched his adversary's approach and eyed Yamato, which was raised over his head. Vergil swung downward with full force, intending to cut down Sesshōmaru unless he proved himself worthy...

...which his demonic opponent did by catching it between his two hands. The force caused minor cracks in the ground beneath them, though both stood their ground. As Vergil saw that he could not push forward, but that Sesshōmaru could not push him backward either, he saw Tenseiga descending fast within his reach. He let go of Yamato, caught Tenseiga by the handle, and struck Sesshōmaru's face. Caught completely off-guard, Sesshōmaru fell onto his back and watched as Vergil thrusted Tenseiga's blade into his chest.

(*music ends*)

Just as Sesshōmaru knew, his father's blade did not stab into him as Vergil had intended.

Vergil: So... your father's blade will not harm his kin? Or rather...

He decided to conclude his theory by placing one of his fingers upon Tenseiga's blade, then slid it with the minimal force necessary to cut. He felt and saw that his flesh had not been cut.

Vergil: A blade that cannot cut the living. What kind of father would give their heir such a worthless weapon?

Enraged at his words, Sesshōmaru lunged with his claws, barely missing Vergil as he teleported backward.

Sesshōmaru: You know nothing of my father, half-breed!

Vergil teleported behind Sesshōmaru and tried to sweep at his feet with Yamato's sheathe when the full-blooded demon hopped over it and brought both his claws downward. Vergil caught them with his sheathe, but the force Sesshōmaru brought down caused Vergil's feet to be planted into the ground. As Vergil grabbed hold of Yamato while trying to free himself quickly, he was struck in the gut by a punch. Vergil spat out, then was struck in the chin, knocking him partially back until Sesshōmaru grabbed hold of him by his coat. As Sesshōmaru pulled him backward, Vergil readied Yamato, but before he could swing it, a powerful punch sent him backward with great force, flying through rows of bamboo trees before disappearing into the distance.

(*music ends*)

Sesshōmaru retrieved Tenseiga, then flew upward and took to the skies.

Looking over the bamboo forest, he searched for signs of his opponent.

Sesshōmaru: He couldn't have gone far.

His eyes opened wide, for he could smell Vergil underneath him. He flew straight downward, only to see no sign of the half-demon.

Sesshōmaru: His scent is faint, but it is beyond this forest.

He left the bamboo forest and saw a temple just ahead.

Sesshōmaru: There... he's right behind it.

He zoomed forward, floating just above the temple's roof when he lost Vergil once more.

Sesshōmaru: What?! But where...!?

It was then that he caught Vergil's scent right behind him. Just as he turned, he saw that he was too late to avoid an attack.

Sesshōmaru: You...!

Vergil flew downward into Sesshōmaru with a powerful kick, sending the two crashing through the temple's roof and into the wooden floor.

(*music end*)

Monks within the temple panicked as Sesshōmaru was sent crashing into the ground by Vergil. As Vergil leapt off of him while Sesshōmaru got up from the impact, the monks saw the demon's claws and markings. One monk pointed.

Monk: *screams* A demon!

The monks fled from the temple in terror, though one turned backward while running.

Monk: Kind stranger! If you slay this demon, you can stay here for the night!

Finally, Vergil and Sesshōmaru were free from any further distractions. Sesshōmaru noted a change: the gauntlets and grieves which Vergil were now wearing: Beowulf. He floated upward and saw that the Son of Sparda wanted to engage in fisticuffs.

Sesshōmaru flew into him for a punch, which Vergil matched with one of his own from Beowulf. The collision caused cracks in the wooden floor, but while Vergil stood his ground, Sesshōmaru was pushed back. As he landed to the ground, Vergil charged at him with a punch, which Sesshōmaru avoided, followed by another, which he caught. As this happened, Vergil leapt up and then delivered a kick to Sesshōmaru's head, sending him grinding across the wooden floor. He leapt towards Sesshōmaru as the demon began to get up, who then clawed upward. Just as this happened, Vergil appeared to jump off of thin air, causing a release of demonic energy that knocked Sesshōmaru back downward.

Vergil: Are you even trying?

Vergil teleported to Sesshōmaru with one leg raised, then unleashed a flurry of kicks. Sesshōmaru blocked as best he could, but his guard gave way as one final kick knocked him backward. He saw Vergil running in for a punch and prepared to guard once more, but Vergil's uppercut broke his guard once more. He saw Vergil go for another uppercut and this time swerved to avoid it. He watched Vergil land and turn around for another punch...

...which Sesshōmaru stopped by stabbing into Vergil's wrist with his claws. He then swiped at Vergil's leg with his other claw, stopping him from kicking or leaping away. He then saw Vergil preparing his other hand to punch and stopped this by slashing his upper body. His attack stopped by the sudden pain to his chest, his other arm was left open for Sesshōmaru to stab his claws into.

Sesshōmaru: Playtime's over.

Vergil feels a burning in his wrists and sees a green glow emanating from Sesshōmaru's claws. It was then that Sesshōmaru booted Vergil backward, tearing Beowulf's gauntlets off of him. As he tossed them aside, Vergil teleported and emerged off the ground and flipping forward rapidly. Sesshōmaru barely avoided the spin kick, then swung his claws to counter two upward kicks. The first kick sent Vergil slightly off the ground while the second had him rising further upward, looking down at Sesshōmaru. He teleported out of Sesshōmaru's sight for a surprise attack, flying downward for a downward kick...

As Sesshōmaru simply turned around and manuevered just enough to avoid the kick and catch Vergil with his claws. They dug into him enough, but Vergil's momentum only allowed the claws to stab further into his stomach.

Sesshōmaru: You're getting predictable.

He swung Vergil into a wooden pillar, damaging it, then did so repeatedly before leaping backward and launching Vergil off of his claws. He slammed back-first into the damaged pillar and as he hit the ground, he saw it begin to topple over him. He rolled out of the way, then leapt backward as Sesshōmaru lunged forward for a claw strike.

Vergil: Don't get so cocky.

As he saw Vergil land, he saw something flying towards him: a summoned sword. It struck Sesshōmaru in the shoulder, but the demon was undeterred and simply brushed it off of him with his nails, shattering the weapon in the process. Vergil charged forward with a few slashes, and as the full demon avoided them, he caught the scent of incoming summoned swords. He hopped backward as the blades neared him, but instead of slashing at them, he simply placed his hand out and what looked like a thin gas emerged from his claws. The summoned swords flew straight for Sesshōmaru only to be melted away before they could even touch him. He landed, with Vergil out of sight when he decided to try something different.

He pulled out Nintojo and smirked as he caught Vergil's scent behind him. As Vergil began to swing Yamato downward, Nintojo fired off flames and Sesshōmaru turned around, a circular wall of flames following him. Vergil saw this and prepared to avoid it, but before he teleported, some of the flames managed to make contact with him. He smelled Vergil a further distance away, whom was grasping his chest and tending to the burn, then pointed Nintojo in his direction and fired once more. Vergil teleported to avoid it as the wave of flame zoomed forward, causing a fire to emerge on the temple's wall. Sesshōmaru continued firing waves of flame each time Vergil teleported away as the temple's fire only grew in size.

Finally, Vergil emerged in front of Sesshōmaru and before Nintojo's flame could be unleashed, a single cut from Yamato cut the staff in two and cut through Sesshōmaru's stomach. Sesshōmaru stumbled backward, still on his feet despite the single slash nearly cutting him in two, as Vergil ran forward to finish the fight. Instead of pulling out Tenseiga, Sesshōmaru raised out his hand, the nails aimed towards Vergil, whom continued onward for his next swing. It was then that Vergil caught what emerged from his opponent's claws was not a thin gas, but a large clump of acidic material large enough to cover him. In that instant, he switched from swinging Yamato to attack to swinging it in front of him in a circle to block. He watched as the mass of acidic sludge ceased upon contact with Yamato...

...but a small amount had gotten through before the sword had rotated once. It struck Vergil's face, whom grasped it with his free hand, then teleported away blind. Sesshōmaru fell to the ground on his chest, some blood spewing from the severe cut to his stomach as his eyes went red. The wound healed in that instant, but it wasn't a painless endeavor. Smelling Vergil nearby, his face began to elongate as the rest of his body soon changed.

Vergil was near the temple's entrance, fortunate he had not teleported into a wall, pillar, or flame. His face was severely burned and at first, he could not see. As his eyes began to heal, he looked over and saw a mass of white. By the time his vision had cleared up, the mass was miliseconds from crashing into him: a massive white demon dog.

(*pause*)

From outside the temple, the sky had become dark and cloudy, flames covered the roof and threatened to engulf its entire outside.

Vergil crashed through the temple's front doors followed by the dog charging forward, leaving an even larger hole in its entrance. Vergil rolled throughout the temple's courtyard, which was surrounded by large stone lanterns, trying desperately to recover from the massive blow. As he made it onto his feet, barely standing, he saw the giant dog demon charging at him with its claws. He teleported, barely avoiding the strike that left a claw mark-shaped crater in the tiled ground. Vergil emerged and went for a Judgement Cut, but saw the dog had charged through it with only a piece of hair being cut from its tail. Before Vergil could teleport or even move out of the way, the dog pounced him, slamming him straight downward. He lied in the small crater, looking upward at the dog, whom readied its paw. Vergil covered his face with Yamato, but the paw had knocked the blade right from his hand. Without his prized weapon, he simply crossed his arms in front of his face as the dog went for a bite.

Suddenly, Vergil's form changed entirely and a shock wave of demonic energy struck with such force that the giant dog was launched off of Vergil into the air. The dog then reverted back to Sesshōmaru, who floated upward and looked over at the blue metallic figure standing on the ground.

Vergil: Now... I'm motivated.

His voice sounded slightly distorted, no doubt an effect brought about by his transformation.

Sesshōmaru flew at Vergil, whom raised his fist as the full demon slashed. To Sesshōmaru's surprise, his claws did not pierce through Vergil's fist, and in that moment of shock, Vergil teleported behind him. Another punch sent the full demon flying to the ground, his feet's impact shattering pieces of tile. Vergil emerged there as well, throwing two punches that Sesshōmaru avoided by moving his head. He raised his arms to guard when Vergil let off a flurry of kicks. Just one kick alone had broken his guard, causing him to take on the full flurry before the last launched him into the air. Just as Sesshōmaru was beginning to regain control in midair, Vergil raised his leg, then slammed it down onto Sesshōmaru. Another crater resulted as Sesshōmaru got back up, stunned by the change in power due to Vergil's transformation.

Sesshōmaru watched as Vergil retrieved Yamato, then reverted back to his normal self, but was shocked to see his face had been completely healed from the severe burn from before. He also noted a large blade on Vergil's back, which the full demon revealed alongside Yamato.

The two collide with their blades, sending water splashing around them as the two push forward.

Eventually, Vergil sends Sesshōmaru sliding on his back, then teleports behind him to impale him with Yamato. Sesshōmaru rolls to avoid this, then stops a swing from Force Edge with Tenseiga before swinging with Bakusaiga. Vergil stops it with Yamato, then the two slash rapidly with all four blades clanging in the rainfall. Sesshōmaru begins to see that Yamato's speed was beginning to overtake him, inches from striking him multiple times, and tries to get some distance by stepping backward. Vergil sees this and seizes it by swinging both swords downward onto Sesshōmaru, whom stops it with both his blades, only to see himself being forced downward. His feet slowly sink into the tile as Vergil pushes downward with all his might, causing Sesshōmaru to be sunken into the ground by his knees.

Vergil swung Yamato down swiftly as Sesshōmaru dropped Tenseiga and used his hand to grab onto Vergil's. This redirected the swing just enough to avoid a killing blow, but left a slash across Sesshōmaru's face. Before Force Edge could strike, Sesshōmaru flew upward, breaking the tile that had entrapped his legs, and unleashed a swing from Bakusaiga. Vergil moved enough that it barely touched him...

...cutting across his face, leaving a green wound in the process. Vergil could feel a sudden confidence emanating from Sesshōmaru, whom flew backward to keep a distance from him. Vergil unleashed a volley of summoned swords behind him, then launched all of them at once. Sesshōmaru swiftly slashed them apart by Bakusaiga, then flew backward once more as Vergil emerged with a flurry of slashes. He retrieved Tenseiga, then looked over at the blue figure...

...and couldn't believe his eyes: the green wound was all but gone. When Vergil emerged back from Devil Trigger, only a scar remained on Vergil's face.

Sesshōmaru: That's not possible.

None who had ever been struck by Bakusaiga had ever healed from it, yet he saw that Vergil still stood. The Son of Sparda saw a hint of something virtually non-existent before: fear and doubt in Sesshōmaru.

Vergil: You said you were done underestimating me.

Sesshōmaru decided to fly upward into the air. Vergil teleported upward to pursue and emerged above him, flying downward with Force Edge. Sesshōmaru swerved to avoid it, and before Vergil could hit the ground, he teleported above Sesshōmaru once more to try again. The full demon avoided it once more and Vergil could tell that from here, he could not teleport above high enough to reach his opponent. He then charged up Yamato and Sesshōmaru caught the scent of the oncoming attacks. He flew left, right, upward, and downward, avoiding the flurry of Judgement Cuts before him that blanketed the rainy sky.

Afterward, Vergil saw a blue lightning-like burst of energy flying towards him and teleported to avoid it. He looked over at the crater it created, then saw another coming his way. He leapt backward, barely avoiding the impact...

He flew forward with a speed faster than any Vergil had seen before as he prepared both his blades to cut him down. Instead, Sesshōmaru swerved upward last-second, unleashing a glowing green whip-like strand of energy from his claws. It wrapped itself around Yamato and before Vergil could act, Sesshōmaru swung upward with all his might, sending the sword flying high into the air. Vergil teleported upward to follow it, his hand outreached for its handle, but Sesshōmaru caught up to him and swung Bakusaiga, forcing Vergil to block with Force Edge.

As he fell downward to the ground and lost sight of his most prized weapon, he gave off a roar-like shout of anger before going back into his Devil Trigger form. He disappeared, then came crashing downward with Force Edge as Sesshōmaru sidestepped it. However, Sesshōmaru suffered a wound to his left shoulder, splitting his spiked shoulder piece in two. He then saw that Vergil had large summoned swords circling around him and readied his poison whip once more. He leapt upward as Vergil teleported upward to follow, swinging Force Edge as he saw Sesshōmaru spinning in midair with his poison whip nearly wrapped around him. During this, Vergil saw his spiral swords being chipped away before breaking entirely.

When this was done, he avoiding a swing from Bakusaiga with a teleport, then his next swing with Force Edge was stopped by the same blade as the two swung rapidly in place on the ground with both. Their next weapon clash was in Vergil's favor, whom pushed forward, forcing Sesshōmaru far backward. Vergil threw Force Edge at Sesshōmaru like a boomerang, who leapt upward to avoid it, only to be surprised at the sword still spinning and following him.

During this, Vergil began conjuring a far larger flurry of summoned swords all around Sesshōmaru. The full demon changed his approach, this time swerving to avoid the spinning Force Edge, but timing it so that he could reach for its handle. Sure enough, he was successful and saw multiple summoned swords coming at him. He threw Force Edge with all his strength, which shattered multiple summoned swords before Vergil saw it inches from him. He teleported in time as the blade was lodged into the ground.

As Sesshōmaru landed to the ground, he saw Vergil signaling with his fingers. Sure enough, he saw himself completely surrounded by summoned swords.

He watched as they slowly began to swarm him. He swung with his blades as quickly as he could, shattering as many as possible, and while none struck him, Vergil could see fatigue in him. He created more summoned swords behind him and unleashed them all at once as Sesshōmaru began to fall to his knees, Tenseiga pointed towards him.

Sesshōmaru: Dragon Strike.

A vortex-like wave of demonic energy, almost like a sideways tornado, flew across the ground, immediately dissipating the summoned swords that struck it, as Vergil created a bubble-like shield around him. Sure enough, it withstood the blow, but he then saw Sesshōmaru with Tenseiga planted into the ground. What he could not see was that this separate Dragon Strike had burrowed itself underground, then unleashed itself from below where Vergil stood. Even though the shield stopped it once more, Vergil could tell that the shield was giving way, beginning to crack under the pressure from both attacks at once. He then saw Bakusaiga glowing much brighter than before as Sesshōmaru swung it.

Sesshōmaru: Bakusaiga!

A green blast of demonic energy neared him and while Vergil was still in his Devil Trigger form, he wasn't about to chance his survival against that attack. He caught a glimpse of Yamato falling towards the ground quickly. He timed his teleport to right before the Yoki Wave would touch his shield, disappearing as his shield completely shattered and a large crater was left behind. Sesshōmaru lost Vergil's scent and in that moment let down his guard...

...at the worst possible moment as the all-too-familiar scent surrounded his left arm with Bakusaiga in hand. He moved as quickly as he could, but the Judgement Cut was far faster than any before it.

It successfully cut off his left arm, which fell to the ground alongside Bakusaiga. More enraged than in pain, Sesshōmaru flew at Vergil the moment he caught his scent, swinging Tenseiga so swiftly and forcefully that Yamato was knocked out of Vergil's hands and flew across the courtyard towards the temple. In that instant, Vergil disappeared from Sesshōmaru's sight and Sesshōmaru noticed a cut in the ground from where Force Edge was last embedded...

...and too late did he catch him as Vergil dashed forward, impaling Sesshōmaru's chest with Force Edge. The two flew forward before Vergil struck Force Edge into one of the stone lanterns, leaving Sesshōmaru pinned in place and dropping Tenseiga to the ground.

Vergil turned back to his normal self as he saw Yamato lying right nearby.

He reached out to grab it as he saw Sesshōmaru reaching for Tenseiga with his remaining hand and trying to move his feet. Vergil rectified this by firing off a summoned sword that pinned Sesshōmaru's hand to the stone pillar. He then fired two more summoned swords, which impaled Sesshōmaru's feet. As Vergil drew Yamato and swung, Sesshōmaru's eyes went red and a green glow emerged from his left side. As Yamato was about to hit its mark...

...Vergil saw that Tenseiga had stopped it and that the glow soon gave way for Sesshōmaru's left hand regrown. He pushed forward with Yamato, but as Sesshōmaru pushed back with Tenseiga, the full demon's blade began to crack. Even still, Vergil saw that Sesshōmaru was starting to overpower him with just one arm. Just then, the summoned swords impaling Sesshōmaru's other hand and feet shattered and he pushed forward with all his strength. Tenseiga broke into two, but Vergil was pushed far backward. He saw Sesshōmaru forcing himself from Force Edge and teleported with a slash...

...only to see Yamato clash with his father's blade. He then saw Sesshōmaru flying towards Bakusaiga and fired off a Judgement Cut, only to watch as Sesshōmaru had barely avoided it while retrieving his weapon. Feeling that it was time to end it, Vergil went into his Devil Trigger form, teleported far from Sesshōmaru and prepared Yamato.

Vergil: Rest...

Sesshōmaru, knowing that he was reaching his limit, floated off the ground and towards Vergil with all haste.

Vergil: In peace.

Sesshōmaru saw him disappear, then smelled Vergil all around him. Vergil flew in rapidly with Yamato and while Sesshōmaru swung Bakusaiga as fast as he could to stop him, he was struck several times.

He began to fall towards the ground as he saw Vergil reemerge in the same place as before about to sheathe Yamato. Sesshōmaru could smell the killing scent all around him. Despite his body's state, Sesshōmaru would not allow himself to die falling and flew forward with all his might.

CLANG!

Yamato was sheathed. From the distance, the sea of Judgement Cuts looked like a white flash.

Sesshōmaru emerged flying forward...

...and in that millisecond, Vergil saw blood spewing from all around the full demon.

Vergil lost sight of Sesshōmaru, then felt a horrible wound, like he had almost been cut in two. He stumbled backward, barely standing with a green glowing cut in his stomach area. Sesshōmaru crashed into the ground, dropping Bakusaiga, rolling across before landing on his knees, unable to stand. He had wounds all over, bleeding from all of them and his mouth as he saw Vergil still standing. The Son of Sparda ran towards him, roaring with Yamato in hand and his wound healing as the full demon knew his body could do no more.

Time slowed as Yamato made contact with Sesshōmaru's neck. Vergil's Devil Trigger expired. He reverted back to his normal self.

Yamato dropped to the ground as Vergil felt an intense pain, like something eating him from the inside, and grasped his stomach. He looked over at the green wound, which was smaller, but soon began to grow. He then saw the green glow had encompassed his fingertips and looked over at his hand. To his horror, not only had it continued to spread across his entire hand, but that his very fingers began to disappear. Vergil knew that he couldn't stop it now. This was his end.

Vergil looked up into the rainy sky and screamed as the disintegration spread more rapidly and soon left fragments of him flying upward into the air like confetti.

Sesshōmaru did not witness this event as he remained with his eyes closed, bleeding from his neck and heavily bleeding from his mouth. He fell onto the ground on his left side, completely motionless as the puddle he lied in soon turned a crimson hue.

(*music end*)

Much time had passed as the rain had stopped, leaving way for the night sky. The temple still stood, the flames put out earlier. In the distance, multiple persons ran forward.

Jaken: Rin, stop!

Rin did not heed Jaken's demand and ran toward the temple's courtyard.

Jaken *thoughts*: Lord Sesshōmaru will kill me for allowing this.

After passing the temple, Jaken saw Tenseiga cut in two.

Jaken *thoughts*: That's not a good sign. Then again, he had broken it before.

He then spotted Bakusaiga lying on the ground.

Jaken *thoughts*: Now that's definitely not a good sign! Why would Lord Sesshōmaru not have it on his person? Unless he was...

He thought was interrupted when he heard Rin gasped, not believing what she saw...

Results

Boomstick: Oooh man! I thought that was going to be a Double K.O. for a moment there.

Wiz: Both eldest sons...

Boomstick: Oh, and I totally call dibs on all of Vergil's weapons.

Wiz: *clears throat* Both eldest sons were comparable in durability, healing factors, and running speed, and in spite of the century gap between them, Vergil could more than hold his own.

Boomstick: Both have survived taking tons of punishment and had the stamina and endurance to carry on even while in bad shape.

Wiz: So with both their incredible willpower, it was only a question of who could land the killing blow first.

Boomstick: How is that even a question when Yamato's bio states that it can cut through anything?

Wiz: We scoured through the entire Devil May Cry series for answers and despite its dimensional-cutting power, it had very little evidence to support that outlier.

Boomstick: Yeah, I get the idea that because Rebellion was its brother sword that Yamato couldn't cut through it. But then it failed to cut through Lady's rocket launcher. No, no, being exhausted has nothing to do with it. If it were truly a "cut through anything" sword, Vergil being tired would hardly be a factor, and even if it was, the blade should've at least cut through it enough to make it completely inoperable.

Wiz: As for Yamato's Devil Bringer feat, that was accomplished by Sanctus, a demonically-enhanced human of much greater power at a later point of the series.

Boomstick: And no, it wasn't a cut: it was a stab. Why is that important? Wiz, science that.

Wiz: See, when a bladed weapon is thrusted, all the pressure is concentrated into a smaller point of impact. While a slash can cause damage, a thrust's force can perform much deeper damage, such as piercing armor.

Boomstick: Now onto Judgement Cut. Years later, Yamato was in the possession of Dante when he took on the monstrous Savior. At this point, Dante was not only way more powerful than when he faced Vergil, but had even surpassed Sparda himself. However, Judgment Cut couldn't cut through it. Well I mean it had conveniently less durable weak points, but the only way the Savior could even be stopped was by sending Yamato through a convenient opening, not just Judgment Cutting it until it fell to pieces.

Wiz: With all that said, Vergil certainly wielded far more cutting power than even Sesshōmaru and both Yamato and Judgement Cut were more than capable of killing him...

Boomstick: ...if they could hit their mark, that is. Sure, he easily had the potential to, say, decapitate or cut Sesshōmaru into pieces, but that would only be if his attack went perfectly.

Wiz: Sure enough, what perhaps aided in Sesshōmaru's survival the most was his incredible sense of smell, which is capable of following events from faraway distances and those that have long since occurred. His scent is even precise enough to tell the difference between demon and half-demon blood.

Boomstick: That would prove to be the ultimate headache for Vergil, as Sesshōmaru could smell him and his Judgment Cuts coming before they could even strike.

Wiz: Vergil was much faster with a blade than Sesshōmaru was, and while he would have the advantage in a ground duel, Sesshōmaru could simply take to the skies for complete control of the battlefield.

Boomstick: Remember: Dante's Devil Trigger form allows him to fly, but Vergil's does not. So any time Sesshōmaru found himself in trouble, he could stay up there as long as he wanted and Vergil wouldn't be able to reach him. Even two of his most devastating attacks, Dimensional Slash and Judgment Cut End, both of which unleash a flurry of slashes, were fruitless once Sesshōmaru was in the air. I know, "Sesshōmaru has to come down to attack at some point."

Wiz: Which brings us to Bakusaiga. Sesshōmaru didn't require a fatal blow with his blade, but just simply any successful cut, no matter how small, to kill an opponent.

Boomstick: It's ruined healing factor's far superior to even Vergil's. Take, for example, main series baddie Naraku, who finally had the full power of the Shikon Jewel at his disposal. Even with that, he knew that Bakusaiga could not only stop him from healing, but would destroy him. So he kidnapped Rin to stop Sesshōmaru from using it against him.

Wiz: Vergil's Devil Trigger could counteract and even heal from wounds inflicted by Bakusaiga, but it only lasts for a limited time, and any wounds still remaining upon deactivation meant the end for Vergil.

Boomstick: So even with Yamato's superior cutting power, he has to work extra hard just to get a killing blow on Sesshōmaru while Sesshōmaru just has to cut Vergil, period. While Vergil's more than proven he can keep attacks away from him, his defenses weren't unbreakable and even then, he can sometimes be wide open during his attacks if he's not careful. Final inquiry, Wizard: if we gave Vergil his Nelo Angelo form, then his increase in all his stats would completely overwhelm Sesshōmaru, right?

Wiz: Yes... however, at the cost of any sense of self-preservation, as his armor and warped mind resulted in a fighting style preferring to tank hits rather than avoid them, which would only make it easier for Bakusaiga to strike him.

Boomstick: And seeing as how Bakusaiga became his primary weapon towards the end of the series, there's really no reason why Sesshōmaru would hesitate to use it from the very beginning.

Wiz: Ultimately, with Bakusaiga, his enhanced senses, and the experience and mobility advantage, Sesshōmaru had the perfect hand with which to defeat the eldest Son of Sparda.

Boomstick: He gave Sesshōmaru a good fight, but in the end, Bakusaiga was Vergil's Downfall.

Whether you've known me for a while or once you get to know me, you know that this is my #1 most wanted Death Battle of all time...

...so naturally, I decided to give it a shot writing it. Music throughout the entirety and the best battle I could write for these two.

So as it turns out, posting everything in one post would've caused it to be cut out halfway, so I've split it into two parts: this part will be everything before the battle. The link to Part 2 will be right at the end.

In any case, hope you enjoy it.

Description

Devil May Cry VS InuYasha! The eldest sons of Sparda and the Great Dog Demon clash! Does Sesshōmaru stand a chance against one of Capcom's deadliest swordsmen?

Vergil

Wiz: Two millenniums ago, there was a war. Between the human world and the other... the Underworld. But somebody from the Underworld woke up to justice, and stood up against this legion, alone. His name was Sparda.

Boomstick: ...and he was a beast! Well after defeating the Demon King Mundus and his armies, and separating the human world from the Underworld, he ruled over the humans before randomly vanishing. Then in the 20th century, he married the human Eva and had two twin sons to carry on his legacy: Dante and Vergil. Suffice to say, having a pappy that manly and awesome must've been tough for the two. What gift for Father's Day could possibly live up to his reputation?

Wiz: But things took a dark turn when his twin sons turned eight: Sparda disappeared and actually died, then demons seeking vengeance upon him invaded their home and killed Eva right in front of them.

Boomstick: That won't fuck them up or anything. But hey, on the bright side, at least the two brothers have each other... right?

Wiz: The twins were separated, each believing the other to be dead. While Dante would go on to hate demons and his demonic heritage, becoming a demon hunter, Vergil, believing himself responsible for his mother's death for not being able to protect her, would come to embrace it. And so he cast aside his humanity, striving to gain absolute power by any means. Naturally, when the two twins finally reunited, they came to a disagreement.

Boomstick: But of course Vergil didn't spend all of his years just sitting around. He became a badass in his own right, slicing demons and anyone dumb enough to get in his way with Yamato, a katana-like blade that was once wielded by his father Sparda.

Wiz: With Yamato, he utilizes two Japanese sword fighting styles: Iiado and Iaijutsu, which both focus of drawing the blade, quick and controlled strikes, and placing it back into its sheathe.

Boomstick: Don't know where he learned them or how many monthly payments he had to put into classes, but it was totally worth it because nearly every time Vergil draws his blade, his enemies don't even know they're dead until he sheathes it.

(music ends)

Vergil sheathes Yamato and a large number of demons are cut to pieces.

Wiz: Due to the magical properties of the sword, as well as his own demonic heritage, Vergil can utilize Yamato for many powerful attacks...

Boomstick: Including slashing so fast and hard that he sends foes airborne and attacking in midair for an extended period of time. But two of his moves are the deadliest of the bunch: the Rapid Slash, where he charges forward for a thrust. Even if his thrusting attack misses, anyone or anything right behind him still gets cut.

Wiz: Then there's Judgment Cut, an attack where he pulls out and sheathes Yamato so quickly it never even appears to to have left its sheathe in the first place.

Boomstick: Basically it's a long range attack where he can slice his enemies from a distance. He can even do this multiple times in one sitting or even unleash a flurry of them at once with Dimensional Slash.

Wiz: Yamato accomplishes this by cutting through dimensions and creating a distortion in space itself. It's been said to be able to cut through anything... though weapons like Dante's Rebellion have proven durable enough to stand up to it. While Yamato is one of Vergil's most prized possessions, it is far from his only weapon. He also wields a pair of gauntlets and grieves called Beowulf, which he forged from the soul of a demon... named Beowulf.

Boomstick: They increase the strength of Vergil's already powerful strikes and allow him to bust tons of bone-shattering moves like the spin kick Lunar Phase, Rising Sun, a charge attack that knock foes into the air, the rapid kicking Kick 13, and Starfall, an aerial kick that's guaranteed to nail someone into the ground. Heck, he can even turn his standard jumps into attacks. And last, but not least, there is the almighty Sword of Sparda.

Wiz: Well... yes and no. It's actually called Force Edge and the true power and form of the Sword of Sparda is sealed deep within it, requiring both Vergil and Dante's amulets in order to unlock it.

Boomstick: But that's okay because this big, bad blade is still powerful enough in its current form. Vergil can slam it down onto people's heads with Helm Breaker, stab straight through people at a high speed with Stinger, slash them upward with High Time, and send out a shockwave with Drive. And if that wasn't enough, he can even throw Force Edge at his opponents like a homing boomerang of death with Round Trip. How does it even do that?

Wiz: Probably magic. Despite his ruthlessness, hatred of weakness, and absolutely no qualms with the strongest surviving, Vergil does have a code of honor, which is reflected in his fighting style, as well as in his lack of any firearms, which he sees as a coward's weapon.

Boomstick: Though that didn't stop him from finding another lethal projectile to fire at people: the Summon Swords, magical constructs of blades that look a lot like tiny Force Edge's for some reason. He can toss these at opponents like darts one at a time without stopping what he's doing.

Wiz: To keep out of an opponent's path or to lure them towards him, Vergil teleports across the battlefield, into the air, or back down again. This ability allows him to traverse faster than the eye can see.

Boomstick: If he doesn't feel like dodging, but also wants some defense, he can create a barrier around him to stop attacks from touching him.

Wiz: Even then, he's more than tough enough to take the hits. As a half-human, half-demon hybrid and a Son of Sparda, he has strength and durability far beyond that of an ordinary human.

Boomstick: But once he starts tapping into his inner demon, he can unleash even stronger Summoned Sword attacks. He can have a bunch rotating around him like a slashing shield with Spiral Swords, set them loose onto his opponent from above with Sword Storm and Heavy Rain Swords, or fire them in rapid succession from behind him with Blistering Swords.

Wiz: By far his greatest asset of all is his Devil Trigger form, of which he was more knowledgeable and experienced with than Dante due to embracing his heritage far sooner.

Boomstick: When he whips out this form, he gets pretty motivated. Aside from changing him into some kind of blue metal reptile thing, it unleashes his full potential, increases his speed, strength, and durability, and can even heal wounds over time.

Wiz: It's sheer power can decimate just about any demon, but it isn't unlimited and once its energy runs out, he'll return back to normal and have to wait for it to recharge to a usable amount.

Boomstick: Or he can use all his demonic power at once for his ultimate attack Judgement Cut End. It's slashes at everything in front of him so quickly that it pretty much one-shots just about anyone who made the mistake of fighting him. Even at 18 freakin' years old, Vergil is easily one of the greatest master swordsmen of his world. He defeated Dante in their first outing without Devil Trigger, can spin Yamato fast enough to stop automatic fire, and cut down both the Hell Vanguard and Beowulf in one strike... two demons tough enough to survive an encounter with Dante.

Wiz: He can easily cut down handfuls of demons in mere seconds, was once trapped in an illusion and got out of it by... well... cutting it, stabbed through a demon with Yamato's sheathe, and he aided his younger brother in defeating Arkham when the diabolical mad man wielded all of Sparda's power.

Boomstick: To top it off, Rapid Slash and Judgement Cut are virtually unblockable and, when it was being used by someone else, Yamato once penetrated into the powerhouse Nero's seemingly indestructible Devil Bringer arm. With weapons and power like that, does he really need anything else?

Wiz: Even with the incredible power at his disposal, Vergil's thirst for greater power was unquenchable.

Boomstick: On the bright side, it's pretty easy to remember what he wants for his birthday.

Wiz: Despite Vergil's tremendous advantage in experience with his demonic heritage and arguably his technique, Dante's sheer willpower turned their second outing into a standstill and even with Force Edge in his arsenal, it was his younger brother who would end up victorious in their third battle.

Boomstick: After that, Vergil fell into the Underworld of his own volition and came face-to-face with Mundus while in pretty bad shape. He took the Demon King on... buuuut ended up getting brainwashed and turned into the armor-clad Nelo Angelo, and Yamato was straight up broken in two. I sure hope the warranty for that sword covers everything after two thousand years.

Wiz: And while Vergil was undoubtedly given a power increase while in service to Mundus, he never would truly recover from his loss in technique afterward and would eventually be freed from his torment by Dante after one final battle led to his demise.

Boomstick: Still, Vergil is one white-haired teal coat-wearing dude that you don't want to cross. He's one of the deadliest swordsmen in video game history. I'd say step away, but by the time you do, you're already in pieces.

Sesshōmaru

Wiz: Over 500 years ago, during the Warring States period of Feudal Japan, there existed yōkai....

Boomstick: Basically demons. And as you can imagine, they weren't generally liked by the human populace. Probably because some liked to attack their villages. But one of the most powerful demons of all, the Great Dog General...

Wiz: The Inu no Taishō made the western provinces his domain, forming alliances not only with his own kind, but even with humans, whom he always showed a kindness towards.

Boomstick: Man, just what's with these demons having soft spots towards humans?

Wiz: The first of his offspring was his pure-demon son Sesshōmaru who, throughout his life, long awaited the opportunity to not only duel his all-powerful father, but also wield his weapon, the legendary Tesseiga, "the Sword of Destruction", said to be capable of killing a hundred in one single stroke.

Inu no Taishō: Why do you seek power, my son?

Sesshōmaru: I walk the path of supreme conquest, and it is power that will reveal the way for me.

Boomstick: But Sesshōmaru's hopes and dreams were dashed twice over: his Dog Demon dad died and he didn't get the kickass sword. Instead, he was given Tenseiga, a sword that can't even freakin' cut! If that wasn't enough to ruin his day, he then learned that his father had another child named Inuyasha with a human woman, and that he died saving them.

Wiz: Sesshōmaru hated his half-human half-demon brother and over the years sought to take back the sword that he felt was rightfully his with no qualms over his actions. He was willing to go to any length to accomplish this: whether it was killing his half-brother and a time-traveling schoolgirl or even accepting aid from Inuyasha's most hated enemy, Naraku.

Boomstick: In battle, he relies on his own physical strength, using only the bare minimum effort necessary to slay his opponent. He can tear off a man's head with very little effort, casually slice through pillars of solid rock with his claws, or, against the likes of Inuyasha, he can get a little punch-happy.

Wiz: His claws can also emit an acidic poison. This poison can further enhance his slashes and punches, and can be released as a thin spray or a thick sludge-like mass at his target.

Boomstick: He can even form a poison whip from his hand to ensnare his enemies... or spin around in place with it, cutting down anything that tries to stop his ballerina skills.

Boomstick: Well anyway, he still carries Tenseiga out of respect for his dead pappy. And I know what you're thinking: "What's the use if it can't cut living beings?"

Takemaru: Tell me... what good is a sword that cannot kill?

Sesshōmaru: Not humans, but it can kill living dead.

Sesshōmaru slices Takemaru in half.

Boomstick: It can also heal people, erect barriers, and teleport him to save his life when things look bad... oh, and it can express its desire for Sesshōmaru to do stuff, and bring people people back from the dead! All without any rotting flesh.

Wiz: At one point, Sesshōmaru did pick up a sword called Tōkijin in his efforts to take back or surpass Tesseiga...

Boomstick: But then it broke, so he said, "Screw that!" and left it. Well even without it, Sesshōmaru can utilize a ranged technique from Tōkijin with Tenseiga, giving the healing sword one move that actually can harm the living: Sōryūha, also known as Dragon Strike.

Wiz: This lightning-like blast of yōki energy is made with Sesshōmaru's own power. As his willpower increases, its size does so as well, from simple strokes to a whirlwind... or a dragon.

Wiz: While on his travels, he is accompanied by the imp Jaken, whose life he saved long ago. Sesshōmaru gave him Nintōjō, the Staff of Two Heads.

Boomstick: While it just looks like a decorated cane, it can fire out streams of fire capable of melting down an entire legion of samurai to ashes in mere seconds. Seeing as how he gave it to Jaken in the first place, I'd say it's fair game for Sesshōmaru to borrow it from him.

Wiz: But eventually, Sesshōmaru's attitude would begin to change. After a battle with Inuyasha went awry, leaving him injured, a human girl named Rin found him and returned repeatedly to care for him despite his protest. After he recovered and she was killed by wolf demons, Sesshōmaru was prompted by Tenseiga to use it and returned her to life.

Boomstick: And from that day onward, Rin decided to accompany him as well. I mean what's the worst that could happen when you have a sword designed to resurrect people?

Wiz: Two events would change Sesshōmaru's outlook forever: being there for Kagura's final moments, and after Rin died a second time, where he learned the hard lesson that Tenseiga can only revive the same person once.

Wiz: Bakusaiga is devastating due to its ability to decompose any organic material and nullify regenerative abilities. With just a simple cut of the blade, the damage spreads and the recipient is eventually disintegrated, even spreading to organic matter that came into contact with the victim.

Boomstick: And if that wasn't enough, there's the Yōki Wave, where Bakusaiga fires off an explosive wave which can destroy one thousand demons at once.

Wiz: Sesshōmaru's power is staggering. He can move fast enough to leave afterimages, can fly and hover in midair for an unprecedented amount of time, is immune to human weapons, holy attacks, and most poisons, has an immense sense of smell, and can regenerate from most wounds quickly.

Boomstick: Though his healing factor is pretty great, it certainly takes its sweet time with limbs. It took him forever just to regrow his left arm.

Wiz: Actually, the reason his arm took so long to regenerate was because it was inflicted by Inuyasha. By finally letting go of his grudge towards his younger half-brother, as well as his desire for Tesseiga, that wound could finally be healed.

Boomstick: And I thought Deathstroke not regrowing his eye didn't make any sense. Good thing Inuyasha didn't cut off anything important. Sesshōmaru not only surpassed his own father's strength, but even that of his younger half-brother. He's avoided multiple barrages of the Meidō Zangetsuha... basically portals to Hell... penetrated through Mōryōmaru's near-indestructible armor, came back from the darkest corners of the underworld when even his own mother believed he would never return, and survived most of the series... with JUST ONE FREAKIN' ARM!

Wiz: He's fought demons powerful enough that they claimed to be gods, withstood Tōkijin's evil aura, which was so strong that no one else but Sesshōmaru could wield it without being consumed by it, easily subdued Yōkai form Inuyasha, and even aided his half-sibling in the final defeats of Magatsuhi and Naraku...

Boomstick: As well as the evil sword Sō’unga, which is basically Soul Edge if it could create zombies. And when he wants to show that he means business, Sesshōmaru turns into his true form: his Daiyōkai form. Now that there is my kind of doggy.

Wiz: But even with its undoubted increase in strength and speed, it can put him at a disadvantage against certain opponents...

Boomstick: Including his half-brother when he used Tesseiga to cut off his left paw/arm. Also, despite all of Inuyasha's closest friends agreeing that Sesshōmaru is far stronger than him, this full demon constantly toyed with him.

Wiz: In spite of his intellect, Sesshōmaru's pride and arrogance have put him in mortal danger on numerous occasions, especially when underestimating an opponent, as was the case with Inuyasha.

Boomstick: Even after blinding Inuyasha in one battle, he still lost and would've been killed were it not for the sword that he once despised.

Wiz: Dragon Strike-aside, Tenseiga is little more than a defensive sword in battle and has been broken before. And with his growing compassion, he will go out of his way to protect Rin from danger, which a few of his foes have used to their advantage to make him drop a fight.

Boomstick: But the last thing you'd want to do is piss off a demon who whose name means literally means "Destruction of Life" and "Killing Perfection".

Or as I hope Death Battle titles it, "Nathan Drake Climbs into DEATH BATTLE!"

I had planned to do this after I played through Uncharted 4... and even then, I up and took my sweet time getting around to this. Well, here it is.

You think the name Drake, what's the first thought that comes to mind?

Okay, you've got me there, but aside from that, I jump straight to Nathan Drake, the treasure-hunting extraordinaire from PlayStation's Uncharted series. The back of the very first Uncharted, Drake's Fortune, said this:

"ONE ORDINARY MAN... ONE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE."

That's absurd. If Nathan Drake's an ordinary man, I'm the King of England. Here's why... why Nathan Drake's far from an ordinary man, not how I'm actually the King of England.

Now before we get started, just a few things:

-I won't be listing every single weapon usable in Uncharted, but mainly what I think would be best for him.

-While I am including weapons he wielded in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, this won't include such abilities as summoning oil drums, ziplines, cover, debris, stone pillars, and El Dorado out of thin air: only weapons he can physically bring with him.

-As I have not had the chance to play Uncharted: Golden Abyss, all feats will be from the primary Uncharted games with bits from Uncharted books. If you wish to list any feats from these games, I'd be happy to add them at a later date.

-Lastly, this will contain spoilers of events throughout the entire Uncharted series. I won't spoil absolutely every moment and twist, but I will nonetheless give away a lot that goes down.

Well then, let's begin.

History

Nathan was born in 1975 to Cassandra Morgan and his unnamed father. Before he turned five, his mother had committed suicide and his father turned both Nate and his older brother Samuel over to the state, being placed in Saint Francis' Boy's Home. Nathan endured the orphanage until the age of 12, becoming fascinated in history, as well as the explorer Sir Francis Drake.

"The nuns sort of insisted on it."

One day, upon sneaking out with Samuel to find their mother's belongings, they learned that Cassandra was a brilliant historian who hypothesized that Sir Francis Drake had heirs despite history saying otherwise. But after a misunderstanding leading to an encounter with police, Nate and his brother were fugitives and couldn't return to their former lives. Believing they were destined for greatness, Sam proposed they continue their mother's work and adopted the surname Drake.

Under the tuleague of the thief Victor "Sully" Sullivan, Nathan Drake hit the treasure-hunting scene, seeking out incredible historical treasures across the globe against even the most impossible odds, from the fabled El Dorado and Shambhala to the Atlantis of the Sands and Henry Avery's fortune.

Play these games and I guarantee you'll be attached to these three.

Background

- Real name: Nathan Morgan

- Age: 38 (U3) / 41 (U4)

- Height: 6'1.7 | 182.9 cm

- Weight: 190 lbs | 86.2 kg

- Killed his first man at 15

- Hates clowns

- Once had an engraved ring belonging to Francis Drake

- Married to Elena Fisher

Weaponry

Note: in-game, Nathan can only carry two firearms on his person at once, but in the same vain as Master Chief, Nathan has the luck of running into whatever weapon he needs, so he's bound to run into them in a Death Battle.

Side arms

Para 9

Magazine capacity: 15 roundsMaximum ammo: 75 rounds

Based on the Walther P99, this semi-automatic pistol is arguably the best handgun for Nathan Drake as it offers great range along with the best magazine and ammo capacity of its class.

Wes-44

Magazine capacity: 6 roundsMaximum ammo: 12 rounds

Sully's weapon of choice throughout the series, this revolver has less rounds, but makes up for this with a bigger punch, being able to take down most foes in just one shot while still keeping his distance.

Pistole

Magazine capacity: 2 rounds

Maximum ammo: 12 rounds

When Nate's not carrying a shotgun on hand, this shotgun pistol can prove devastating at close-range.

Raffica

Magazine capacity: 15 roundsMaximum ammo: 120 rounds

Based on the Beretta 93R, this pistol offers three-round burst-fire, offering a faster rate of fire at mid-range.

Arm Micro

Magazine capacity: 25 roundsMaximum ammo: 125 rounds

This machine pistol trades in power and long range accuracy for its fast firing rate, making it perfect for close range and blindfire.

Primary weapons

Rifles

AK-47

Magazine capacity: 30 roundsMaximum ammo: 120 rounds

Easily Nate's most iconic firearm of choice, this assault rifle is perfect for close to mid-range firefights.

M4

Magazine capacity: 32 roundsMaximum ammo: 160 rounds

Commonly carried by elite enemies, the M4 is superior to the AK-47 in firing rate and accuracy, and only slightly weaker in power.

M9

Magazine capacity: 36 roundsMaximuma ammo: 160 rounds

While slightly weaker than the AK-47 and M4, the M9's rate of fire outranks them for a devastating volley.

From afar, this semi-automatic sniper rifle offers Nate the best combo of long range and power to take down far away enemies.

Last, but certainly not least:

ARX-160

Magazine capacity: 50 roundsMaximum ammo: 150 rounds

With high damage, low recoil, and an extremely fast rate of fire, this heavy assault rifle is a beaut you just have to have in-game to truly appreciate.

Shotguns

Sawed Off Shotgun

Magazine capacity: 2 rounds

Maximum ammo: 12 rounds

For a guaranteed kill even against armored enemies, this double-barrel shotgun's fast rate of fire gives Nate a quick one-two shot.

SAS-12

Magazine capacity: 8 roundsMaximum ammo: 16 rounds

Range and accuracy isn't an issue for this pump-action shotgun as its increased ammo lets Nate keep the close-range pain train going.

Condor

Magazine capacity: 6 roundsMaximum ammo: 18 rounds

This heavy automatic shotgun offers the fastest firing rate of any of the shotguns available for Nate, perfect for the enemy and his friends.

Explosives

Mk-NDI

Maximum ammo: 4

The trademark hand grenade of the series, Nate just has to pull the pin and toss it. Despite appearing like any ordinary shrapnel grenade, it flashes red and beeps before going off.

Dynamite

Maximum ammo: 4

For when Nathan Drake wants to be more dastardly.

RPG-7

Magazine capacity: 1Maximum ammo: 3

This rocket-propelled grenade launcher will fire straight at whatever armored soldier or group of enemies Nate's pointing at. Also great for tanks.

M32-Hammer

Magazine capacity: 4 roundsMaximum ammo: 12 rounds

The arched shots of this semi-automatic grenade launcher will either bounce off terrain until time runs out or will go off immediately upon touching a foe.

Special Weaponry

Propane tank

Nate can carry and throw these, then a quick shot with his side arm will detonate it.

(Insert "Hank Hill propane" joke here)

Tranquelizer Dart Gun

Magazine capacity: 1 dart

Its one shot limit and pitiful range leave much to be desired, but at close-range, this dart gun offers Nate his sole non-lethal weapon.

Crossbow

Magazine capacity: 1 boltsMaximum ammo: 5 bolts

Taken off a terrifying supernatural enemy, this medieval weapon can bring them down in one shot and take down an armored baddie in two.

PAK-80

Magazine capacity: 50 roundsMaximum ammo: 180 rounds

It slows down Nate a bit and he won't be climbing or melee attacking while holding it, but this heavy machine gun's power and firing rate more than make up for it.

GAU-19

Magazine capacity & maximum ammo: 500 rounds

Who cares if it slows Nate's movements tremendously and needs to wind-up: its sheer firepower and accuracy basically means point and no more enemies to worry about.

"Cry some more! *cackles* Cry some more."

Equipment

His watch

I knew Uncharted 4 was a good-looking game, but wind physics on his shirt? That's pretty impressive.

It tells time... and nothing else.

Flashlight

Helps in dark caves, caverns, and chasms.

Riot Shield

Taken off some enemies, it allows Nate to resist bullets for some time while advancing. Comes with a shield bash.

Grappling Hook

Just another day in the life of a treasure hunter.

For the gaps that are too large for even Nate to jump across, as well as for climbing. Stretches far, collapsible, and placed on his belt when not in use. The hook on the end can probably be swung at people.

Piton

Offers further climbing assistance for Nate, able to penetrate light surfaces. Considering how old it is and where this thing's been, Nate using that for melee would be a bad day for whoever's on the receiving end.

His mitts

Nathan PUNCH!

No matter what weapons or equipment he loses, he always has his mitts.

Physical Attributes

- Despite no formal combat training (aside from perhaps Sully), Nate is more than capable of fighting off both individual foes and small groups of enemies at once. He's adept at avoiding and countering close-range attacks, as well as breaking out of grapple and headlocks.

- Combat-aside, his climbing skills are remarkable, scaling everything from cliffsides and mountains to buildings ancient and new, as well as the occasional ancient structure that's still intact after many centuries. His grip is so ridiculous that he pretty much never needs to fear falling: regardless of the force of impact from a jump, his upper body strength and fingers of steel will hold on.

- Nathan Drake's endurance is formidable, as he can take a beating, fight whole ensembles of enemies, and climb all manner of structures for hours on end without even beginning to show signs of tiring.

- Aside from just being an adept marksman with firearms and throwing weapons, Nate showcases downright impeccable aim with his grappling hook, hitting his mark whether at a standstill, running, and even when sliding and falling.

- He's also decent at flying a plane, riding jet skis and horses, and driving jeeps and boats.

Feats

Picture credit goes to hakusekirei on Deviantart.

"An ordinary man" my bum.

- During one of his melee takedowns, Nate picks up and throws his opponent over himself, showcasing some impressive lifting strength

- Able to stab with a piton hard enough to embed it into walls, even while falling

- Was dragged across the ground and slammed through a wooden structure while hanging onto his grappling hook as it was attached to a speeding truck, but still held on and climbed

- Outran a body of water while on a sinking cruise ship

- Saw seven entire adventures through to the end

- Taken on and even brought down entire private armies and secret societies

- Stopped forces from using cursed treasure for their own nefarious purposes three times

- Survived encounters with Minotaurs (yes, Minotaurs), the zombie-like Descendants and the durable and agile Shambhala

Guardians

- Defeated Navarro and Talbot in hand-to-hand combat

- Eluded and defeated Lazarevic after he was physically enhanced with superhuman strength, durability, and a minor healing factor

- Survived being shot in the abdomen, waking up some time later after much blood loss, and accomplished the following:

--- Climbed out of a train, which was hanging off of a cliff and soon fell--- Brought down a squad of mercs while in freezing temperatures

- Trekked through the Rub' al Khali desert for days despite starvation and dehydration, then fought a swarm of enemies

- Defeated a horde of armed agents while suffering the effects of a hallucinogen, making them appear to teleport short distances or transform upon death

- Possesses incredible luck:

--- Tends to come across precisely the type of weapon he needs

--- Ran across MP40's in both an abandoned Nazi bunker and frozen caves, to which they worked perfectly in spite of how years of cold, wet, and isolation would make them useless in reality

--- Has only officially been shot twice in the entire series: in the abdomen by Harry Flynn and on the neck (dart) by Talbot

--- Obviously surviving everything in these adventures... heck, adventures plural is incredibly lucky in of itself

- Wielding the GAU-19 effectively, let alone firing with it, defies real life expectations as the force let off from firing it alone would rip it out of the hands of the operator

- As shown by him being able to deduce a grapple point, take out the grappling hook, deduce the best angle and toss it in the precise manner needed to connect to said grapple point in such a short span of time, Nathan Drake clearly possesses a much faster reaction speed than an ordinary human (link to one such feat here)

Faults

Obviously, Nate has clear limits and flaws.

- He's definitely not bulletproof: enough shots or a well-placed shot in the head will put him down as easily as his enemies.

- His close-quarters aren't unbeatable: heavily armored foes stop Nate in his tracks if he attempts fisticuffs and he was unable to defeat the PMC leader Nadine Ross, who was trained in various martial arts

- Could not hope to best Rafe Adler in a sword fight, as Rafe was skilled in fencing

- While drenched from a dip in the ocean and during a heavy rainstorm, Nate's grip gave out while climbing and he slipped, falling to the ground

- As formidable as the Riot Shield is against bullets, it is made completely null and void by explosives

- In spite of his impressive Nepal feat, Nate eventually began to succumb to his blood loss and the freezing cold, and would have died were he not found by a Tibetan explorer

- While not completely helpless without them, some of Nate's notable stand-offs had him being assisted by friends

- He has been deceived and led into poor situations by some allies, particularly back-stabbers

- Often times when captured or once when defeated, he survives through sheer Bond villain logic, as they hold off on killing him just long enough for him to gain an opportunity to escape or turn the tables

- Despite his wit, Nate is an adrenaline junkie and can become over-obsessive over a treasure to the point of forgoing his own safety

Description

Killer Instinct VS Soul Calibur! The two undead pirates of the fighting genre prepare to draw their swords! Can Cervantes hold his own against the skeletal warrior?

Interlude

Wiz: Pirates. The swashbuckling pillagers of the Seven Seas.

Boomstick: And these two pirates are so badass that death just couldn't keep them down! Like Spinal, the skeletal fighter of Killer Instinct.

Wiz: And Cervantes, the Great Immortal Dread Pirate of Soulcalibur.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick!

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

Spinal

Boomstick: Ah Spinal, the original fighting game skeleton and pirate.

Wiz: While one of Killer Instinct’s most iconic characters, his origins are anything but set in stone.

Boomstick: See, the first time he appeared, Spinal was torn from death by UltraTech's cell regeneration experiments and pretty much became one of their pawns. The next time he showed up, he was resurrected by Gargos in the past and was forced to do the demonic warlord’s bidding.

Wiz: Then we move on to his current origin, where Spinal began his life not as a pirate... but as a bandit in ancient Babylon.

Boomstick: Ooo... kay. Well he and his fellow bandit network were recruited by a vizier to weaken Babylon’s king by attacking his resources, in turn bringing down his wealth. However, the king figured out what was going on and had them found and captured.

Wiz: The conspirators were subjugated to sorcery and suffered various and unique diabolical curses to their bodies and minds. Spinal’s fate proved to be the worst out of all of them, as the Mask of the Ancients, an incredibly powerful artifact of control, was shackled over his face.

Boomstick: See, the king used this mask to force Spinal into becoming his servant and protector. While Spinal still had his own thoughts, his body basically acted on its own towards the king’s orders, no matter how suicidal or downright absurd they were.

Wiz: Feeling every cut and fracture in his body and only a witness in his own body, Spinal’s helplessness as the king’s ancient personal robot assistant ate away at his sanity.

Boomstick: Then the king got bored of him and had Spinal burn himself alive just for the giggles. Only Spinal’s bones remained and even with the mask removed, the bones still twitched.

Wiz: Fearing the potential backfire, the king had the bones sealed in a lead casket and tossed into the sea. Centuries of isolation and confinement did allow Spinal to slowly regain control of his body and reform his bones into a human skeleton once again...

Boomstick: Buuut all of his years without control over his own body combined with centuries to himself kinda drove him past insane. Eventually, he finally broke out of the lead coffin, searching wrecked ships for the mask. A few more centuries later, he washed up in the Caribbean and took on a skeletal pirate’s life at last.

Wiz: Stories spread of how Spinal sank ships filled with treasures without taking even one gold coin... as the Mask of the Ancients was all that he sought so that he may finally obtain the eternal rest he had sought for so long... or gain enough power to spread pandemonium across the globe.

Boomstick: So then UltraTech’s head AI fembot ARIA found him still looking around for that damn mask in the modern day/future and offered it to him if he did what she wanted. Spinal did and the mask was all his... but turns out it had lost its power. Boy, this skeleton just cannot catch a break, can he?

Wiz: Spinal battles to find the entity responsible, and he certainly doesn’t do so with his bare skeletal hands...

Boomstick: Aside from a sliding kick and a gravity-defying dive kick, Spinal’s primary means of attack is his trusty cutlass. He can swing it downward with enough force to down foes, swing upward hard enough to send foes airborne, and can even ignite it on fire for a fire-enhanced slash. He originally had a buckler shield in his other hand, which had a retractable spike in its center for stabbing strikes, but then he traded it in for the awesome kraken shield.

Wiz: It houses magical properties, allowing him use beyond just simple defense. Aside from a charging shield bash, it can also fire spectral skulls or even consecutive energy waves.

Boomstick: And it can not only absorb enemy projectiles that strike it, but can even store them for later use to turn on his foes. Suddenly it’s not so wise to do the same move over and over now is it?

Wiz: And through either the mask or through learning it, Spinal is adept in the use of various magical abilities. He can telep...

Boomstick: Skeleport around his foes, conjure ghostly skeletal hands to grab, punch or throw, has minor telekinesis, and can even briefly shapeshift to replicate his foes while dishing out a quick beatdown. Sure, he can't exactly steal their moves or abilities, but there's something satisfying about beating the crap out of your opponent... as your opponent.

Wiz: Spinal can further enhance his spectral skulls to curse the opponent upon impact, draining them of some of their power and giving it to Spinal for his own use. And in the Agent of Chaos state, Spinal’s skulls will bounce across the battlefield until they hit their mark or his reserves are exhausted.

Boomstick: Hell, he can even absorb his own skulls during this power-up to recharge his stock. And when he’s done with his foes, he can have skeletal hands pull them underground or hold them in place as a gigantic skull falls and crushes them. Squish! Or he can finish them in a telekinetic snap.

Wiz: Surviving over 600 years aside, Spinal has defeated the likes of Sabrewulf, TJ Combo, and even Kim Wu, a martial artist who happened to be a descendant of legendary heroes.

Boomstick: And while you’d think his skeletal frame would make him easy to break, not quite in Spinal’s case. He’s survived blows from Kim Wu’s magically-enhanced nunchaku Yeo, fellow immortal Tusk’s greatsword Warg-Gram, and even UltraTech's masterpiece Fulgore himself.

Wiz: Despite his clear fighting prowess, Spinal is still considered an unreliable UltraTech asset due to his patchy win-loss record.

Boomstick: Yeah, he hasn’t had much luck taking down the demi-god killer brother-sister duo and other heroes like the icy alien Glacius. And while withstanding blows from Tusk sounds impressive, he didn’t win that skirmish and was eventually brought down.

Wiz: His curse ability can grant Spinal additional power, but if he is struck, he will lose his power-up. And Spinal’s magical bond between his bones isn’t completely infallible. A strong enough blow could cause separation between them... such as when Chief Thunder actually managed to destroy the skeletal warrior.

Boomstick: Hell, it doesn't even matter. *clears throat*

Boomstick *pirate impression*: If ye ever encounter this bone chilling swashbuckler of the seas, be lucky ye leave without a scratch!

Spinal stands atop the crow’s nest of a sailing ship, he tosses both his cutlass and shield to his side, then raises his hand and cackles as it glows and emits golden flame-like energy.

Cervantes

Wiz: Throughout the Soulcalibur world, there have been many servants of evil whose mere implied presence spread fear. A golem wielding a giant axe created by an evil cult. A young woman who serves the Azure Knight with her ring blade.

Boomstick: As well as a lizardman and a blind contortionist with an insane fashion sense. But few inspire as much absolute dread as the dread pirate... Cervantes.

Wiz: Cervantes de Leon began as a simple sailor... whose father happened to be a well-known privateer for Spain.

Boomstick: Philip de Leon was renowned for never killing the crews of ships he attacked. If that wasn’t nice enough of him, he always made sure they made it home safe and had enough supplies to last the trip. Man, that sounds like an anti-pirate right there.

Wiz: Cervantes took great pride in his father... until one day, an English warship disguised as a merchant vessel ambushed and killed him.

Boomstick: Obviously Cervantes took the healthy route of coping by becoming a notorious pirate. His ruthlessness and efficiency soon caught the attention of the Merchant of Death Vercci, who gave him a simple task: find Soul Edge. At first, Cervantes was like "Eh, I dunno...", but considering Vercci was supplying him with artillery in the first place, he finally accepted and the search was on.

Wiz: Sure enough, he sought out and attacked a ship with a strange article onboard, which turned out to be the vile blade he was looking for. But upon gripping Soul Edge, Cervantes’ soul was eventually devoured, driving the pirate into utter madness and insanity and tearing apart his free will.

Boomstick: He slaughtered his entire crew and disappeared for over twenty years, killing anyone who sought out the evil sword. Even after he was finally slain, he was resurrected by Soul Edge’s new wielder Nightmare and from that point onward terrorized the seas in his ghost ship, plundering and stealing souls so that Soul Edge could be restored.

Wiz: Originally, Cervantes wielded Soul Edge itself... which just so happened to be two swords at the time.

Boomstick: Then some hot Greek chick broke one of them, leaving him with just one left... until Nightmare was all like "I want it back" and the sword left him. But Cervantes still has the most fearsome weapon combo of the seven seas with his longsword Acheron and Nirvana, his pistol with a blade attached.

Wiz: With Acheron and Nirvana in hand, Cervantes is more than a match for your average swordsman. He wields them with a rather interesting combination of fighting styles. Arnis, a Filipino martial art focusing on weapons, footwork, holds, and defending and reacting to the angle of attacks.

Boomstick: He also uses Savate, a French martial art combining boxing with kicks, and Niten Ichi-ryū, a Japanese art all about duel-wielding blades. Boy, Cervantes sure must’ve traveled a lot to learn all of that. With those three under his résumé, he combines them in battle, resulting in a fighting style all about absolutely devastating foes' defenses and stopping them from getting to him.

Wiz: Cervanes can swing his blades with enough force to send foes flying into the air or even causing them to bounce off of the ground, and is capable of stabbing at a rapid rate.

Boomstick: And one of Cervantes' favorite past times are grabbing and stabbing his foes with his blades, whether it's each going in at a time, lifting them and slamming them back down, or even using his pistol gun to stab and shoot at the same time.

Cervantes catches a falling opponent with his pistol's blade, then fires his pistol twice before tossing them away.

Boomstick: Hey wait, how can his pistol shoot twice in a row without reloading?

Wiz: It may just be his link to Soul Edge itself, whose power allows his pistol to do what no other of his era can.

Boomstick: Easy answer aside, Cervantes can teleport backward and up into the air to throw off his foes... and we haven't even gotten to the fact that Cervantes can freakin' fly and has telekinesis.

Wiz: Well... somewhat. Cervantes can fly forward, though only for a brief instant to catch his foes off-guard with his speed and slam into them with his blades. And while he's never shown any capability of telekinesis, Cervantes' connection to his weapons allows him to control them to a limited extent.

Boomstick: Nothing like throwing a guy into the air, then sitting back and cackling while your two blades do all the work for you before sending the guy back down. And as if all of that wasn't enough, he can enhance his moves with his Dread Stance, making them even more deadly.

Wiz: Cervantes effortlessly defeated Li Long, the man who would eventually train Soulcalibur's Elvis Bruce Lee impersonator Maxi, as well as scored a win against Sophitia and once had himself an undead army. His power was so great that it took the combined beatings from both Sophitia and the Fu-Ma ninja Taki to bring him down.

Boomstick: He also defeated Ivy, his daughter... oh yeah, he had a daughter. That was until a rematch, in which she won and all the souls Cervantes had ever devoured. This left the guy with not only his body beaten, but his mind pretty much shattered and he was swallowed by a dimensional rift created by Soul Edge soon afterward. It seemed like the final end of the cursed pirate...

Wiz: But years passes and rumors began to spread of his old ship, the Adrian, terrorizing the seas with Cervantes at its helm. Turns out Cervantes had broken free of Soul Edge's control, regained his mind, soul and free will, escaped the dimension, and returned at the height of his power.

Boomstick: When Yoshimitsu looked for him and decided to take him on, Cervantes left him mortally wounded. And with his new body overflowing with a fraction of Soul Edge's power... somehow... according to the art book, Acheron can strike with enough force to shatter an airborne cannonball and Nirvana fires with more force than a cannonshot.

Wiz: Exaggeration? Possibly. And despite being able to take many blows without stopping, Cervantes is not invincible. His durability does have limits, and he is extremely arrogant, thinking himself above Soul Edge and the gods themselves.

Boomstick: He's more than earned that cockiness after all he's been through. While everyone else was all worried about the fate of the world and finding or destroying the Soul blades, Cervantes said "Whatevs" and did his own thing.

Boomstick *pirate impression*: Whether ye be in a port town or at sea, if ye see the immortal dread pirate, get ready to fill out yer locker at Davy Jones'.

Cervantes: Wallow... in despair.

DEATH BATTLE!

Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all.

Boomstick *pirate impression*: Yar, why it be time fer a pi-rate DEATH BATTLE!

In a large cave unseen for centuries lied a lone pirate ship next to a large rocky dockside. The ship having been left idle for so many years without care, its outside was tattered and it wouldn’t take much to cause it to tear apart. It was then that another ship had ventured through the cave and to the dockside. An anchor was cast into the water below, a lone pirate had leapt onto the old and abandoned ship, a feat very few could pull off in one bound, and then admired what he saw on-board.

???: Lady luck must be on my side today.

Wearing fanciful boots, dark grey pants, a red coat with an opening in the front, and a luxurious captain’s hat with white feathers adorned on top, the mutton-chopped pirate Cervantes stood atop a long-forgotten ship filled to the brim with golden treasures. He looked across at the golden coins, jewels, and ornaments covering the very floor he stood upon when he saw a lone treasure chest. He grinned.

Cervantes: Heh heh heh... I'm tingling with excitement.

What could be inside the chest? Cervantes couldn’t wait to find out. He approached it and saw a lock across it...

...not a problem for dread pirate, who sliced through the lock with a single slash of his longsword Acheron. During this, a small green mist emerged upon a small spot of the ship and from it came a skeletal hand holding a cutlass. A skeleton had climbed out of the mist and stood atop the ship. With brown sailing boots, a tattered kilt, a sailing ship’s wheel lodged through it, rope covering its chest, carrying a most peculiar shield on its back, donning a red headband upon its skull and its eyes glowing green, it was none other than Spinal. Cervantes knelt down at the chest and prepared to open it. Spinal took a step forward...

...but with the poor condition of the ship, even Spinal could not hope to sneak up on the dread pirate, who turned around after hearing a loud crackling of wood behind him. Cervantes looked over at Spinal, but did not appear terrified at the skeletal warrior. With everything Cervantes had seen and been through, he was entirely desensitized.

Cervantes: Well well, aren't we scary. *gestures Acheron to the side* Out of my sight!

He turned back to the chest before him and waited to hear the sound of Spinal leaving. Instead, he clearly heard the steps getting louder as Spinal walked forward. The skeletal pirate was not about to take orders from what looked to be just some human captain.

Cervantes: You dare... to defy me?

Cervantes did not take this insult lightly.

Cervantes: How dare you...

He reached his other hand to his belt and prepared to draw his signature weapon.

Cervantes: You...

Spinal saw Cervantes reaching for something and decided to place his other skeletal hand upon his shield.

Cervantes: ...rabble!

He turned and fired his bladed pistol Nirvana, firing off a shot at the skeletal intruder.

Cervantes was surprised to see this wrench was entirely unaffected, holding a shield with a kraken-like design across, which had stopped the shot from his pistol... something almost none Cervantes ever encountered had done. Spinal then took his cutlass and made a gesture he knew a pirate like Cervantes would easily be able to comprehend: a slice across his skeletal throat.

Cervantes: If you truly wish to meet your end in battle, then I will perform the last rites!

The dread pirate swung both Acheron and Nirvana before getting into his fighting stance.

FIGHT!

Spinal slides across the ground for a sliding kick, which Cervantes scoffs at. He leaps upward, then slams downward onto Spinal with a kick. Cervantes took advantage of the grounded Spinal and stabbed into the ground with both blades...

Only to see that he had missed his mark due to Spinal's skeletal frame, with Acheron and Nirvana stabbing between his narrow spine. Spinal struck Cervantes' face with his shield, then began a combo of slices and shield bashes before booting him backwards, sending him flying off his feet. Cervantes slammed back-first through the ship's door, which had barely dangled on and not only broke off, but basically shattered. Cervantes walked through the opening almost like nothing had happened.

Cervantes: Is that all?

After hearing this taunt, Spinal charged at Cervantes with his shield when he noticed the dread pirate was blocking with only his right hand weapon, Nirvana. After Spinal's shield met it, a quick swing from Acheron knocked the kraken shield right out of his skeletal hand. Cervantes then slugged Spinal in the jaw with his right hand, the force of which surprised Spinal with how hard he had been struck. He was left dazed as Cervantes swung Nirvana downward onto Spinal, who was forced onto his knees, then floored by Nirvana and Acheron striking downward together.

As he lied on the ship's floor, Spinal turned and noticed a buckler shield lying nearby him. He rolled to dodge downward swings from Cervantes, then grabbed the buckler shield and immediately countered with a powerful slash from his cutlass. Cervantes reeled back in that split-second, only to be struck by the cutlass repeatedly while it was enhanced with fire, then suddenly stabbed in the stomach.

The buckler shield released a spike from its center and twice more he was stabbed, then left pinned to a wall and dangling a few inches off the ground.

Cervantes appeared motionless and Spinal, confident he had scored a kill, turned his attention to his kraken shield and the treasure chest. After retrieving his kraken shield, he opened the chest, hoping to finally find the mask he had sought for so long...

...only to be disappointed with more useless gold coins and jewels. He turned the chest over, desperate to see if the mask may have been hidden and obscured by the rest, but it was nowhere to be seen and nowhere on this ship.

Spinal then heard something behind him and turned to see that Cervantes had gotten onto his feet and tore the spiked buckler shield off of himself without any discomfort.

Cervantes: What a waste...

He threw the buckler shield into the air, then prepared to swing Acheron.

Cervantes: ...of my time!

He slashed it, cutting the shield in two and sending the pieces straight towards Spinal, who covered himself with the kraken shield. After the pieces of the shield scattered, Spinal looked over his kraken shield and saw Cervantes flying towards him with his blades out front like a drill.

Cervantes: Go under!

It was too late to avoid it and Spinal could only block it, but the impact pushed Spinal backward with great force. Once he had stopped, Spinal saw his back was turned toward the waters below, but as he turned in front of him, Cervantes swung both blades downward onto Spinal's shoulders, knocking him onto the ground.

Cervantes: You shall have...

He placed Acheron and Nirvana underneath Spinal's shoulders.

Cervantes: ...a watery grave!

He launched Spinal upward into the air, then teleported above him and charged a shot from Nirvana.

Cervantes: Drown!

The shot struck Spinal, sending him plummeting into the waters below.

SPLASH!

(*music ends*)

The dread pirate laughed to himself as he saw Spinal sink further downward without moving.

Cervantes: The game is over!

Spinal continued sinking further downward until he hit the sandy bottom. He simply lied there unmoved by the depths when a great white shark came rocketing into him, catching Spinal with its teeth.

Cervantes threw crates of gold and jewels from the rotted ship onto the Adrian without a single care now that Spinal was out of the picture.

Spinal did not take being treated as a shark's chew toy lightly, as he reached for his cutlass.

Having finished, Cervantes looked over at the waters below and saw that it had begun to turn red.

Soon afterward, a slayed shark emerged as well with clear wounds from a cutlass. The skeletal warrior still lived...

Cervantes: Absurd!

Spinal emerged from behind Cervantes in a green and glowing aura as Cervantes quickly turned and slashed with Acheron. He didn't feel any impact with the skeleton, so he turned around once more, only to see Spinal in mid-air performing a gravity-defying dive kick.

(0:44)

Cervantes was knocked right off of the ship, landing onto the rocky square to the boat's side. He got up quickly battle-ready, looking over at Spinal standing on the ship, awaiting his next move. Spinal disappeared in a green glow and Cervantes was on the ready when Spinal emerged from behind him once more. There was more to this skeleton than meets the eye...

The dread pirate swung at Spinal, who simply teleported away once more...

Cervantes: You think I could lose to the likes of you?

Cervantes positioned his swords to stab behind him and sure enough, Spinal was knocked back, guarding with his shield. He disappeared once more, this time leaving Cervantes to look around for him. Spinal leaps up into the air towards the unaware Cervantes...

...or so it seemed, as the dread pirate quickly turned around and caught the skeletal warrior on Nirvana's blade.

Cervantes: You pathetic wrench.

He fired Nirvana twice into Spinal, then slammed him into the ground, breaking off a few pebbles from the rocky ground. Cervantes aimed Nirvana downward at Spinal's skull when a giant skeletal hand emerged from the ground and grabbed hold of Cervantes' head. It lifted him off the ground, then released a green energy, blasting Cervantes backward. The dread pirate simply brushed himself off as he got back up.

Cervantes: This is ridiculous!

Cervantes then saw something most peculiar: Spinal transforming into a grayscale version of... Cervantes, complete with his own Acheron and Nirvana. The two took on their stances and clashed, but Cervantes was not even moved. In fact, he already knew which attacks Spinal was about to do as he was performing them, as he knew his own fighting style inside and out.

Cervantes: You fool...

He simply waited for one last strike...

KI Announcer: C-C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker!

Spinal was knocked into the air, his Cervantes form wearing off. He saw Cervantes aiming upward with Nirvana and quickly shielded himself with the kraken shield. The shot once again had no effect, which frustrated Cervantes. As Spinal landed, Cervantes stabbed rapidly with Acheron, but Spinal's guard withstood it as the shield emitted a green glow. Soon afterward, a green skull emerged from it and struck the dread pirate. Suddenly, Cervantes began to feel slightly weakened, almost as if he had lost some of his power.

Cervantes: What?!

He dropped his weapons and fell onto his knees as Spinal looked over, his mouth as close to a grin as he could muster. He looked over at the weakened Cervantes, placed his shield onto his back, and raised his cutlass with both hands like an executioner. Just as he prepared to swing it down onto the dread pirate's neck...

Cervantes: Not so fast!

Cervantes ducked onto the ground, avoiding the downward slice of the cutlass. Spinal prepared to stab the lying Cervantes when the dread pirate span, kicking Spinal with both legs and grounding the skeletal warrior. After this, Cervantes no longer felt the fatigue from before, as his power had returned to him after the successful blow.

The dread pirate's ruse was successful, and Spinal quickly grabbed onto his shield as he saw Cervantes preparing his charge stance once more. To counteract this, Spinal placed his shield right in front of him and got into a running position. As Cervantes flew forward with his blades, Spinal charged forward with his shield. The two seemed equal, both stopping at around the same time, but after the fact, Spinal quickly fired off waves of energy from his shield. Cervantes quickly got into blocking position, but his guard soon broke soon afterward. As he reeled back, Spinal raised his hand upward into the air.

Cervantes suddenly saw himself being grabbed by his legs by two skeletons, who proceeded to drag him downward into the ground, likely to the underworld. He quickly composed himself and slashed at them with Acheron and Nirvana. As their bones scattered, he realized the bottom half of his legs were stuck in the ground and that Spinal still had his hand raised up high.

He saw a shadow growing larger too late as a gigantic skull fell from the sky onto him.

CRUSH!

(*music ends*)

The impact caused the skull to partially sink into the ground, leaving a small crater. Spinal gave off a scoff-like noise before turning his back to his flattened opponent. But a sudden noise from behind him caught his attention...

A shot from Nirvana fired straight up, splitting the giant skull in half, as it soon rolled off of the grounded Cervantes, who lied in the crater and began to glow with a purple aura.

Cervantes: Fool!

Spinal ran in to finish him off, but Cervantes flew above him, looking down upon the skeletal warrior.

He flew foward at Spinal, who charged with his shield, only to be quickly overpowered. Spinal fell and grinded against the ground as he continued to cover himself with his shield. Cervantes ran towards Spinal as he got back up and, with the skeletal warrior's only option being to guard, the dread pirate rapidly stabbed at the shield with both blades.

Cervantes: How weak!

Spinal's guard broke and Cervantes took advantage of it by grabbing the skeletal warrior and throwing him into the air along with his two blades.

Spinal had no idea what this could mean until he saw Cervantes simply cross his arms...

Cervantes: Come, have a taste of my power.

...Acheron and Nirvana began to move on their own. They circled around Spinal, slashing at him while also forcing him to float further upward into the air as Cervantes cackled to himself. The blades then slammed Spinal into the ground, Acheron in particular breaking one of his ribs, as the dread pirate retrieved his blades. Spinal quickly got onto his feet and slashed at the dread pirate, who easily countered all of Spinal's slashes before guarding with both blades glowing a bright green...

Cervantes: Ah ha!

He pushed Spinal and his cutlass back, then swung both Acheron and Nirvana at the blade.

Cervantes: Scatter!

SHATTER!

Spinal saw that his cutlass' blade had been cut in two, becoming little more than a dagger.

During Spinal's shock, Cervantes swung Acheron with incredible force, knocking the kraken shield out of Spinal's hand and far into the air before booting the skeletal warrior. Spinal teleported further backward to avoid any further attacks, but then saw Cervantes quick-drawing Nirvana, which glowed.

Cervantes: Die!

He fired, the shot so quick that Spinal couldn't teleport to avoid it in time. All he could do was duck the shot, which barely scrapped the top of his skull, then zoomed past him into the rotted ship right behind him. After the impact, the entire ship began to split and sink. It was clearly much more powerful than any of the shots before it...

Spinal then caught his kraken shield and saw Cervantes' blades glowing as he prepared a familiar stance.

Cervantes: You'll pay!

The skeletal warrior got into a blocking position, more than familiar with Cervantes' flying charge. But as he looked back towards Cervantes, he disappeared. He then saw Cervantes emerge above and behind him, and turned frantically to guard against him, but the dread pirate had already begun descending towards him quickly with Acheron and Nirvana.

Cervantes: Take this!

Spinal guarded his head with the kraken shield, then realized too late that it wasn't Cervantes' intended target...

He suddenly felt a great pain, then looked over and saw that his right arm, cutlass in hand, had been severed from his skeletal body from the sheer force of the blades. Spinal staggered and stumbled backward before falling onto his knee, the kraken shield covering his body.

Cervantes: Taste the pain I have endured!

He looked over and saw Cervantes raising his right foot off the ground and preparing a large swing from Acheron. Acheron had an orange glow to it that became almost fiery.

He stumbled backward, once more feeling a drop in his power from Spinal's cursed skulls. He was suddenly struck from behind, then turned around and slashed to see that it was a skeletal arm. He was struck from behind once more, then saw more and more skeletal arms around him. Spinal glowed green and fired off four cursed skulls. Cervantes saw them coming and either side-stepped them or knocked them away with his swords, but the skeletal hands moved to strike Cervantes or to swat the skulls back at Cervantes.

One by one, Cervantes was struck by each until one final fifth skull hit its mark. Cervantes dropped his weapons, this time out of true exhaustion. Even as he saw Spinal approaching him, he refused to beg for mercy or appear afraid.

(0:25)

Cervantes: I am... immortal!

Spinal charged with his shield and swung it, sending Cervantes into the air. He then disappeared from sight and as Cervantes saw the waters below him, he saw Spinal, once again in the form of a grayscale Cervantes, above him. Spinal charged his false Nirvana and fired it downward onto the dread pirate. While nowhere near as powerful as the real Nirvana, the shot was sufficient enough to send Cervantes rocketing deep into the depths of the ocean.

SPLASH!

Spinal landed back onto the ground as his usual self, then looked over at the broken cutlass lying nearby him.

Cervantes crashed into the sandy ground, looking upward at the surface, which seemed faraway from how deep he was. It was then that Spinal sunk downward towards Cervantes with a drop kick, landing on his stomach and keeping him pinned to the ground. He then proceeded to stab the broken cutlass into the dread pirate's chest, keeping him pinned down to the ocean floor. He walked off of Cervantes as the dread pirate desperately tried to pull the cutlass out of him when Spinal took out a magical medallion and held it upward. It glowed with green energy and let off lightning-like sparks as Cervantes suddenly felt something gripping his neck and slightly raising his head off of the ground. He raised his hands towards his neck, but found himself unable to grab onto whatever had gripped him. Done with the dread pirate, Spinal tilted the medallion...

CRACK!

Cervantes' neck was snapped, ending the dread pirate's struggle.

Spinal's arm still lied on the ground of the dock as Spinal emerged behind it in a green glow. He picked it up and placed it onto his shoulder, where it soon after reattached itself. Cervantes then raised his shield upward.

Spinal: Yahahahahahahaha!

K.O.!

Cervantes' body remains motionless at the bottom of the ocean, its skin slowly becoming a pale purple, as Spinal sets sail aboard the Adrian. He then sees the skeletal assassin Revenant wielding two wave swords standing nearby him, waiting to fight. Spinal shrugs, pulls out Nirvana, and fires, knocking Revenant off the boat, then raises both Nirvana and Acheron into the air in victory.

Results

Wiz: For starters, yes, both Acheron and Nirvana trumped Spinal's cutlass, as both Cervantes' blades were overall superior in just about every category.

Boomstick: And to be fair, his aggressive style is one few in the Soulcalibur world can defend, let alone survive against, but that damn kraken shield changes everything!

Wiz: Right. Its magical properties allowed it to use Cervantes' own firepower against him and could withstand any of his blows.

Boomstick: Not to mention his skeletal frame only made it harder for Cervantes to make his mark, apart from spoiling his stabby style.

Wiz: And even if Cervantes could strike Spinal, the skeletal warrior's bones have survived assaults from Tusk's fire-enhanced greatsword and Fulgore's plasma claws, as well as stood up to magically-enhanced weapons like Kim Wu's nunchaku, which were designed to slay evil beings.

Boomstick: Meanwhile, Cervantes has never shown immunity to such magic, as he was brought down by the combined beat down of both a divine holy sword forged by the Greek God Hephaestus and a supernatural ninja blade designed for slaying demons lesser than Cervantes himself. And his return from an alternate dimension with a new body and some of Soul Edge's power may sound like it made him top dog, but not quite.

Wiz: It brought Cervantes to the height of his power, not past it, and there was nothing stopping Spinal's curses from draining him of the little power he had taken from Soul Edge. That combined with his ability to conjure limbs to attack Cervantes from all angles and enough finishers to wear him down allowed Spinal the opportunity to bring down the great immortal dread pirate.

Boomstick *pirate impression*: Why Cervantes almost had himself a victory... then his chances sank.